Wander Franco gets 3-year suspended sentence as Dominican court revokes pardon
A Dominican appeals court in Puerto Plata revoked Wander Franco's judicial pardon and upheld his conviction for sexual and psychological abuse of a minor.
Dominican court revokes Franco pardon, imposes suspended sentence in abuse case
A Dominican Republic appeals court in Puerto Plata has revoked the judicial pardon previously granted to former Tampa Bay Rays All-Star Wander Franco and imposed a three-year suspended prison sentence, ibtimes.co.uk reports. The court upheld his conviction for sexual and psychological abuse of a minor on Thursday, 29 October 2026.
Franco, 25, will avoid immediate imprisonment provided he complies with the conditions set by the court. Those conditions include maintaining a fixed residence, remaining under judicial supervision for the duration of the suspended sentence, and observing restrictions on contact with the victim and locations she frequents. Any violation could result in Franco serving the full three-year term in custody.
The ruling follows a legal process that began with an investigation in 2023. Franco was first convicted in June 2025 and received a two-year suspended sentence. A subsequent trial in May 2026 again found him guilty but granted a judicial pardon, exempting him from punishment altogether.
Prosecutors challenged that outcome, arguing the pardon rested on an incorrect interpretation of the law. The Dominican Republic's Public Prosecutor's Office maintained that the legal provisions permitting such relief were designed for exceptional circumstances that did not apply to Franco's case. The prosecution had sought a five-year prison term. The appeals court sided with prosecutors on the pardon question but imposed a shorter sentence than requested.
The court cited Franco's age and the objective of eventual reintegration into society when establishing the suspended sentence conditions, according to the Associated Press.
The same ruling upheld a 10-year prison sentence against the victim's mother, who was convicted of commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering in connection with the case. Judges additionally ordered the forfeiture of approximately 2.1 million Dominican pesos — reported by the Associated Press as around $34,000 (approximately £25,400) — recovered from her. According to AP's account of the proceedings, those funds originated from Franco in exchange for her consent to his relationship with her daughter.
The conviction's impact on Franco's professional baseball career remains significant. Once regarded as one of Tampa Bay's most promising players, Franco signed an 11-year contract worth $182 million (£135.8 million) in November 2021. Dominican authorities announced an investigation into his alleged relationship with a minor in August 2023, and he has not played in Major League Baseball since that month. He has been placed on the league's restricted list.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that legal experts considered it unlikely Franco would obtain the work visa required to return to the United States following his conviction. That assessment, however, does not constitute an official immigration ruling, and no confirmed visa refusal has been reported. Major League Baseball declined to comment on the October court ruling, the Associated Press reported. The league retains its own independent disciplinary authority.
Franco retains the option to challenge the judgement before the Dominican Republic's Supreme Court of Justice. His lawyer, Teodosio Jáquez Encarnación, told the Tampa Bay Times that the defence planned to appeal, though the legal team had not yet received the full written ruling at the time of reporting. The timing of any further proceedings remains unclear.
Source: Google News DM — Crime