Cleveland Guardians pitchers, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, are facing charges for allegedly accepting bribes from sports bettors to manipulate their pitching during games. The indictment, revealed in federal court in Brooklyn, accuses Clase and Ortiz of assisting bettors from the Dominican Republic in winning prop bets related to pitch speed and outcomes by deliberately throwing certain pitches inaccurately, such as slower pitches or pitches outside the strike zone.
Clase and Ortiz have been on non-disciplinary paid leave since July as Major League Baseball probed heightened in-game betting activities linked to their pitching performances. Ortiz, 26, was apprehended by the FBI at Boston Logan International Airport and is scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston on Monday. Clase, 27, is currently not in custody.
Legal representatives for both players have either declined to comment or have not responded to inquiries regarding the charges. The charges against Clase and Ortiz include wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting events through bribery, and money laundering conspiracy, carrying a potential maximum prison sentence of 20 years upon conviction.
These charges represent the latest developments in the government’s efforts to combat illicit betting practices in professional sports. The surge in gambling incidents involving athletes and officials followed a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in May 2018 that invalidated the federal ban on sports betting in most states, paving the way for the proliferation of online sportsbooks.
In a related incident last month, over 30 individuals, including notable basketball personalities like Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, were arrested in a sweeping gambling investigation that shook the NBA.
Major League Baseball has been collaborating with law enforcement authorities since the onset of the irregular betting activities, pledging full cooperation in the ongoing investigations. The Guardians also affirmed their commitment to cooperating with both law enforcement and Major League Baseball throughout the investigation processes.