The baseball star went into his first conversation with federal investigators assured he was “not a target.”
The lead prosecutor on a sprawling sports betting case, Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeff Mitchell, told the player’s attorney that he didn’t believe it was a federal crime to make payments to an illegal bookmaker, as the player was suspected of doing. Investigators were after “an unlawful sports gambling organization,” Mitchell said, according to a court declaration reviewed by The Times.
In other words: The feds wanted the bookies — not the betters.
Despite those assurances, the player — former Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig — is currently staring down two federal charges for obstruction of justice and making false statements, after allegedly lying during his initial conversation with Mitchell.