Former Blue Jay Raul Mondesi sentenced to 6 years

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SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Former Major League Baseball outfielder Raul Mondesi was sentenced Friday by a Dominican court to six years and nine months in jail and fined US$507,000 for corruption during his time as mayor in the city of San Cristobal.

Prosecutors accused the 53-year-old Mondesi of embezzling $5 million during his time as mayor between 2010 and 2016. The sentence came after a deal with the prosecutors’ office.

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Mondesi, whose son Adalberto Mondesi was a big league shortstop, spent six years under house arrest, which means his sentence has already been completed.

With the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mondesi won the NL Rookie of the Year award in 1994 and played in the All-Star Game one year later. The Dominican was in MLB for 13 seasons and won two Gold Gloves.

In 1999 he was traded by the Dodgers to the Toronto Blue Jays. He only played in 96 games during his first season in Toronto after he tore ligaments in his right elbow during a game on July 21, which required season-ending surgery. He played two and a half seasons with the Jays, for a total of 320 games and 66 home runs. He won the American League Player of the Week Award for the week of May 6, 2001.

Mondesi’s career also includes stints with the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbecks, Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Angels and Atlanta Braves. He finished his career with an average of .273, 271 homers and 860 RBIs.

Mondesi’s political career started in San Cristobal, which he represented as a lawmaker between 2006 and 2010. After his time as mayor, he bid for the senate but failed.

Dominican prosecutors brought several charges against Mondesi, including falsification of documents, criminal association and malfeasance.

Adalberto, his son, started his career with the Kansas City Royals in the World Series they won in 2015. He is currently a free agent after he suffered a knee injury in March 2023.

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