Wander Franco charged with gun possession amid sexual abuse trial

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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.

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PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic — Wander Franco, the one-time franchise cornerstone of the Tampa Bay Rays, bowed his head in a courtroom on Thursday as a tribunal in his native Dominican Republic pondered his fate. He had spent most of the final proceeding of his trial this way, until a court clerk read the verdict aloud: guilty of sexual abuse of a minor.

Franco, 24, wiped away tears.

“Look at us, Wander,” said Justice Jakayra Veras, when announcing the conditions attached to Franco’s two-year suspended prison sentence. “Do not approach minors for sexual purposes. If you don’t like people very close to your age, you have to wait your time.”

Prosecutors had sought a five-year prison term for Franco, whose suspended sentence means he’ll avoid incarceration so long as he adheres to the terms. The sentence also includes paying fines, as well as the costs of the trial. By contrast, the victim’s mother was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the maximum that prosecutors were seeking in the case, on charges of money laundering and commercial sexual exploitation of a minor.

The court said the mother of the victim exerted pressure and blackmailed Franco, whose future in Major League Baseball remains uncertain. It’s not yet clear if Franco’s conviction means that his contract with the Rays could be converted from guaranteed to non-guaranteed, and could eventually be terminated.

Franco’s full sentence will be revealed on July 17, which would allow the court to tack on additional conditions to his suspended prison term. Though Franco’s sentence does not include travel restrictions outside of the Dominican Republic, immigration experts told The Athletic last year that a conviction would likely result in a permanent ban from the U.S.

Following Thursday’s verdict, Major League Baseball released a statement acknowledging its own investigation into the matter. Under baseball’s policies, the probe could lead to a suspension.

“Major League Baseball is proud to have a collectively bargained Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy that reflects our commitment to these issues,” the statement read. “We are aware of today’s verdict in the Wander Franco trial and will conclude our investigation at the appropriate time.”

Franco last played in an MLB game in August 2023, when the sexual abuse accusations first surfaced on social media. After denying the allegations on his own social media channels, Franco was put on administrative leave. He remained there until July 2024, when prosecutors filed charges and Franco was put on the restricted list.

Citing testimony from the girl, who was 14 at the time of the complaint, and testimony from other family members, prosecutors said that Franco lavished the girl’s mother with thousands of dollars in cash and other gifts such as a car in exchange for allowing him to engage in the alleged abuse of her daughter. That led to what prosecutors called an abduction of the alleged victim by Franco via the use of a helicopter. The Athletic is not naming the mother in order to preserve her daughter’s anonymity.

Franco’s verdict, which was rendered by Veras along with judges Venecia Rojas and Jos