Raul Mondesi sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption

Former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Raul Mondesi was sentenced to eight years in prison on corruption charges.

Every baseball player eventually needs to find something to do once their career comes to an end. Some go into coaching, others go into business, or just sit back and enjoy retirement. For former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Raul Mondesi, the call of politics was far too strong.

As it turned out, the call of money and grift was also irresistible for Mondesi. The former Dodgers outfielder, and mayor of San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic, has been sentenced to eight years in prison and fined the equivalent of $1.19 million.

During his time with the Dodgers, Mondesi was a dangerous power hitter. He made his only All Star Game while wearing Dodger Blue, was the 1994 NL Rookie of the Year, and was a two time Gold Glove winner. Over the course of his career, Mondesi posted a .273/.331/.485 batting line, hitting 271 homers and stealing 229 bases.

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As it turns out, those 229 bases may not have been all that Mondesi swiped over his career. Mondesi was accused of embezzling more than 300 million pesos (nearly $6 million) from 2010 through 2016. After all, $6 million is a fairly impressive sum, more so than 229 stolen bases.

However, that success on the diamond, and his former stature in the game, are millions of miles away at this point. Mondesi will be spending the next eight years in prison, the former mayor and All Star having fallen far from grace, this prison sentence the end result of an investigation that had begun back in 2017.

The loss of his freedom and that fine are not the punishments that Mondesi has received. He has also been banned from holding public office for ten years, putting any further political ambitions that Mondesi may have on hold.

Former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Raul Mondesi is heading to prison, with an eight year sentence following an investigation into his time as mayor in the Dominican Republic. It is an amazing fall from grace.