Wander Franco’s bid to overturn his case took another hit Thursday in the Dominican Republic, where an appeals court upheld the guilty verdict against him and added a three-year suspended sentence.
The ruling, first reported by Dominican journalist Luis Tomas Rae Barett, keeps alive the conviction that found Franco guilty of sexual abuse of a minor and adds new legal consequences on top of the verdict. Franco, now 25, is still dealing with a case that has derailed what once looked like a career headed in a straight line to stardom.
Franco was found guilty again in May on charges of sexual and psychological abuse of a minor. The case centered on a relationship he had with a then-14-year-old girl from December 2022 to February 2023, when he was 21.
Even with the guilty verdict, he avoided punishment at that stage because the panel granted a judicial pardon, saying Franco also was “a material victim” in the case. The judges said that conclusion was based on Franco being extorted and blackmailed by the girl’s mother, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Her sentence was also upheld Thursday by the appeals court.
That set up appeals from both sides. Franco’s camp argued that the evidence at trial was not enough to support a guilty verdict. Prosecutors, meanwhile, pushed to overturn the no-punishment ruling and sought a five-year prison sentence.
The appeals court did more than simply review the case. It issued its own ruling, leaving the guilty verdict intact while imposing the suspended sentence.
The punishment includes specific conditions, and if Franco breaks them, he would be sent to prison to serve the full term. In the 2025 verdict, one of those conditions was that he not approach minors with sexual intentions.
Franco still has one more legal path available: an appeal to the Dominican Supreme Court. That process could take years.
The baseball implications remain enormous. Franco last played for the Rays in August 2023, and his chances of getting back to the majors now look slim. Legal experts have said he is unlikely to receive the visa needed to work in the United States because he has been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude.
Franco’s major-league career began in June 2021. After he played 70 games for Tampa Bay and hit .288 with seven homers, 39 RBIs and an .810 OPS, the Rays signed him in November to an 11-year deal worth a guaranteed $182 million, with a 2033 option.
He has not been paid since charges were filed in July 2024 and is on Major League Baseball’s restricted list, though he is still owed about $149 million. Even if his legal case ends in his favor, MLB still has an ongoing investigation and could discipline him further.
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