MLB Star Sentenced to 6-Year Prison Term

(FeaturedHeadlines.com) Dominican athlete Raul Mondesi had a standout career in Major League Baseball (MLB) before launching a political career in his native Dominican Republic, where he became the mayor of the city of San Cristobal. However, Mondesi’s career in politics did not end as smoothly as his one in baseball. A Dominican court sentenced Mondesi to six years and nine months in prison for corruption.

In 2017, Mondesi was sentenced to eight years for corruption after using his position as mayor from 2010 to 2016 to embezzle millions of dollars. Mondesi was banned from holding public office for 10 years and fined $1.3 million.

Mondesi appealed the case, leading to the new sentencing deal. Despite the prison sentence, Mondesi is already effectively free, since prosecutors agree that he served his sentence under house arrest while appealing the case.

Mondesi’s MLB career made him a beloved figure in the Dominican Republic. The athlete would send dozens of baseball gloves, bats, and shoes to Dominican kids every year. Fellow Dominican former MLB player Jose Offerman once described Mondesi as a “hero” in the country.

Mondesi played for multiple MLB teams across 13 seasons, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Los Angeles Angels. In 1994, Mondesi won the National League’s Rookie of the Year award and later played in the MLB All-Star Game.

Mondesi’s son, Adalberto Mondesi, also ended up playing in the MLB for the Kansas City Royals before becoming a free agent.

Raul Mondesi started his political career in the Dominican Republic’s Chamber of Deputies as a member of the Dominican Liberation Party, but later switched to the Dominican Revolutionary Party. In 2010, he won the mayoral race of his hometown of San Cristobal, the province of which he also represented in the Chamber of Deputies.

Although Mondesi’s political career may not have been a homerun, he ultimately managed to dodge serving time in an actual prison for the crimes he committed while in office.