By Sarah Jean Maher
June 9, 2025 10:51 am EDT
-The Athletic
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, currently on trial in the Dominican Republic on charges including sexual abuse of a minor, was charged Sunday with illegal possession of a gun, according to multiple reports.
The latest charge comes after Franco was arrested Nov. 10 following an altercation that broke out in a San Juan de la Maguana parking lot. According to reports, a semiautomatic Glock 19 was found in Franco’s vehicle. The gun was registered under Franco’s uncle’s name, and Antonio Garcia Lorenzo, one of Franco’s lawyers, said that the gun was licensed. “There’s nothing illegal about it,” Lorenzo said. Prosecutors requested that Franco stand trial on the gun charge.
The 24-year-old was formally charged in July by prosecutors in the Dominican Republic with sexual and commercial exploitation of a minor. His trial is ongoing. According to prosecutors, testimony from the girl, who was 14 at the time of the complaint, and testimony from other members of her family, Franco paid the girl’s mother thousands of dollars in cash and other gifts in exchange for the mother allowing him to engage in the alleged abuse of her daughter.
MLB has opened an investigation into the allegations against Franco, and it remains ongoing.
The Rays signed Franco to an 11-year, $182 million contract in November 2021. He hasn’t played since the allegations emerged in August 2023.
June 9, 2025 10:51 am EDT
-The Athletic
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, currently on trial in the Dominican Republic on charges including sexual abuse of a minor, was charged Sunday with illegal possession of a gun, according to multiple reports.
The latest charge comes after Franco was arrested Nov. 10 following an altercation that broke out in a San Juan de la Maguana parking lot. According to reports, a semiautomatic Glock 19 was found in Franco’s vehicle. The gun was registered under Franco’s uncle’s name, and Antonio Garcia Lorenzo, one of Franco’s lawyers, said that the gun was licensed. “There’s nothing illegal about it,” Lorenzo said. Prosecutors requested that Franco stand trial on the gun charge.
The 24-year-old was formally charged in July by prosecutors in the Dominican Republic with sexual and commercial exploitation of a minor. His trial is ongoing. According to prosecutors, testimony from the girl, who was 14 at the time of the complaint, and testimony from other members of her family, Franco paid the girl’s mother thousands of dollars in cash and other gifts in exchange for the mother allowing him to engage in the alleged abuse of her daughter.
MLB has opened an investigation into the allegations against Franco, and it remains ongoing.
The Rays signed Franco to an 11-year, $182 million contract in November 2021. He hasn’t played since the allegations emerged in August 2023.