LOS ANGELES (CN) — Former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig's argument that he was singled out for prosecution on charges of lying to federal agents about his involvement with an illegal sports betting ring because he is Black appeared to gain little traction at a hearing Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles tentatively denied a request by Puig to force the prosecution to turn over a slew of information to his defense team, including all communications among the agents and with any witnesses, or attorneys for witnesses, regarding any interviews and any charging decisions in the case, to support his selective prosecution claim.
The judge took his request under submission without issuing a final ruling.
Puig, 32, agreed to plead guilty last year to lying to federal agents when they questioned him about his involvement with an illegal bookmaking network. However, when it was time to enter his guilty plea before the judge in November, he declined to do so. He wasn't present at Wednesday's hearing.
His lawyers have since claimed that Puig, a Cuba-born Black man, was charged with lying during a January 2022 interview about his connection with an illegal betting ring because government agents operate by different standards when it comes Black and non-Black individuals, either because of implicit or explicit biases.
"The evidence shows that the government was inclined to view Black men as untruthful and uncooperative and non-Black men as truthful and...
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