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Tampa Bay Rays Shortstop Wander Franco Faces Up to 20 Years in Prison, Per Report

After being formally charged with multiple crimes this week in the Dominican Republic, Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco now faces up to 20 years in prison, which puts a real doubt on his baseball future.

Brady Farkas

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco (5) warms up in the first inning before his turn at bat against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park in 2023.
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco (5) warms up in the first inning before his turn at bat against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park in 2023. / David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports
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After being formally charged with multiple crimes this week in the Dominican Republic, Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco now faces up to 20 years in prison.

We heard earlier this week that Franco was being charged with sexual abuse and sexual exploitation against a minor, and now we're also learning that he's been charged with human trafficking.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today had more on the penalties associated:

Franco is facing a prison sentence of two to five years for sexual abuse and five to 10 years for sexual exploitation while the human trafficking charges carry a sentence from 15 to 20 years. If Franco is found guilty of multiple charges, he would be sentenced on the crime with the longest prison term, according to Dominican laws.

There are much more important things than baseball at play here, but with regards to baseball, Franco's future is highly in doubt. The Rays placed him on the restricted list on Wednesday, meaning that he will no longer be paid or accrue service time. He signed an 11-year, $182 million deal after the 2021 season. Major League Baseball won't even make a ruling on his future until after the legal proceedings finish in the Dominican Republic. That could take quite a long time. Franco hasn't played since August of 2023 and hasn't even been back in the United States since heading back to his home country, as far as we know.

Franco was named an All-Star in 2023 and was one of the best, young players in all of baseball. Now it remains to be seen if he'll ever play again.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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