Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco is headed back to trial.
An appeals court in the Dominican Republic ordered a new trial for Franco on Tuesday, months after he was convicted of sexually abusing a minor, according to the Associated Press. Franco’s attorneys appealed his two-year suspended sentence and pushed to have his sentence overturned.
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A new panel of judges will now oversee Franco’s case.
“The court understood that there were many flaws, many omissions … many issues, and decided to send the case to a new trial,” Franco’s attorney, Teodosio Jáquez, told the Associated Press.
Franco was found guilty of sexual abuse of a minor in June. He was accused of having a four-month relationship with a 14-year-old girl and transferring thousands of dollars to her mother to consent to the illegal relationship. He received a two-year suspended prison sentence for an illegal sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl, which allowed him to remain free so long as he meets certain conditions. Prosecutors had been seeking a five-year sentence.
The minor’s mother was also convicted on sex trafficking charges and received a 10-year prison sentence. The appeals court on Tuesday also granted the mother a new trial.
Franco has had several other legal issues since returning to the Dominican Republic, including accusations from two other girls. He was detained by police and sent to a mental health facility at his family’s urging in September.
“In a new trial, the procedures will be reevaluated,” prosecutor José Martínez Montan said, via the Associated Press. “We won the case in the first trial, and we expect the same in the new trial.”
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Franco signed an 11-year, $182 million deal with the Rays in 2022, which set a team record at the time. He was positioned as the cornerstone of the franchise and was quickly emerging as one of the younger faces of Major League Baseball.
In 2023, he landed on administrative leave and then on the restricted list as allegations came out against him. His MLB career is on hold indefinitely, and he remains on MLB’s restricted list as his contract runs out. A sex crimes conviction against a minor would be a significant obstacle preventing Franco from securing a work visa to enter the United States again, meaning his MLB career is likely over if he does not win his new trial.
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It’s unclear when Franco or the minor’s mother will be due back in court or when the new trials will begin. Neither was present in court Tuesday.
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