The twisted case of former Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco came to a conclusion on Monday. Despite a court finding Franco guilty for a second time on charges of sexual and psychological abuse of a minor, Franco will not serve any more time in prison.
Authorities had charged Wander Franco with having an inappropriate four-month-long relationship with a then-14-year-old girl in the Dominican Republic when he was 21-years-old. Prosecutors had been seeking a five-year prison term for the former MLB star.
The judge in the case granted Wander Franco a judicial pardon, claiming he was both a defendant and a victim. The minor girl’s mother extorted and blackmailed Franco, and therefore, he was “exempted from punishment.”
“It seems contradictory to declare criminal responsibility and at the same time exempt him from punishment,” Judge Jose Antonio Nunez ruled. “The court has granted Wander Franco a judicial pardon due to the particular circumstances that made him a material victim, but not a legal one.”
The judge added that he granted the judicial pardon due to “logical and legal reasoning.” The decision overturned Wander Franco’s original conviction in June 2025, in which he received a two-year suspended sentence with the condition that he not approach minors for sexual purposes.
The judge gave the mother of the exploited girl a 10-year prison sentence
The mother of the girl Wander Franco was found guilty of abusing and exploiting and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors claimed Franco paid the girl’s mother thousands of dollars and gifted her a car in exchange for consenting to the relationship.
Wander Franco signed a $3.8 million contract with Tampa Bay when he was just 16-years-old and became an All-Star at the age of 22. The team had signed him to an $182 million contract when MLB placed him on administrative leave in August 2023. They later transferred him to the league’s restricted list, and he has not played since.
“We are aware of today’s verdict in the Wander Franco trial and will conclude our investigation at the appropriate time,” Major League Baseball said in a statement.
It may not matter what the league determines, because, according to Fox News, since Franco was not fully exonerated, immigration experts believe it will be nearly impossible for him to secure the work visa necessary to resume his baseball career in America.