Home · Sports · Oct 30 archive
Dominican Court Revokes Wander Franco's Pardon in Sex Abuse Case
· Confirmed
In Short: An appeals court in the Dominican Republic has upheld Wander Franco's conviction and revoked his pardon for sexual and psychological abuse of a minor.
An appeals court in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, revoked Wander Franco's judicial pardon and upheld his conviction for sexual and psychological abuse of a minor on Thursday, October 29, 2026. Franco, 25, was originally convicted in June 2025 and had been granted a pardon by a lower court, but the appellate court ruled in favor of the prosecution, essentially upholding Franco's previous conviction.
The court upheld a 10-year prison sentence for the mother, who was found guilty of commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering. Franco's defense team objected to the motion, but the appellate court ruled in favor of the prosecution, maintaining the original conviction and imposing conditional terms considering Franco's age and to support his eventual reintegration into society.
Franco will not be required to serve time in custody provided he maintains a fixed residence and remains under judicial supervision. The court also ordered the forfeiture of approximately 2.1 million Dominican pesos (£25,900).
Franco, who was once the Rays' star shortstop, had signed a $182 million, 11-year contract in November 2021 but saw his career abruptly halted in August 2023 after authorities in the Dominican Republic announced they were investigating him for an alleged relationship with a minor. Franco was arrested in January 2024 after being accused of having a four-month relationship with a girl who was 14 at the time and transferring thousands of dollars to her mother to consent to the illegal relationship.
The court's decision imposes restrictions on Franco involving contact with the victim and places she frequents. Franco can appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Dominican Republic, but the current ruling stands, maintaining the three-year suspended prison sentence.
The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to revive a major immigration fight over whether criminal aliens can be held without bond throughout removal proceedings or are entitled to a hearing when their detention drags on. This case, Genalo v. D.C., involves a Dominican national facing removal after a criminal history that includes drug trafficking and domestic violence charges.
Michael Morley, a Florida State University law professor, told Fox News Digital, 'Rather than making the court go through those motions, you just hear this case now, hear this case directly, even before the Second Circuit has had the opportunity to rule.'
Background
An appeals court in the Dominican Republic has upheld Wander Franco's conviction and revoked his pardon for sexual and psychological abuse of a minor.
What's confirmed
- Franco's defense team objected to the motion, but the appellate court ruled in favor of the prosecution, essentially upholding Franco's previous conviction, with a suspended three-year prison sentence.
- Franco, who was once the Ray's star shortstop, had signed a $182 million, 11-year contract in November 2021 but saw his career abruptly halted in August 2023 after authorities in the Dominican Republic announced they were investigating him for an alleged relationship with a minor.
- The court upheld a 10-year prison sentence for the mother, who was found guilty of commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering.
- Franco, now 25, was originally convicted in June of 2025.
- The Dominican Public Prosecutor's Office argued that the lower court's original pardon rested on an erroneous interpretation of legal provisions intended only for exceptional circumstances — conditions that prosecutors maintained do not apply to Franco's case.
- The court on Thursday imposed the conditional terms considering Franco's age and to support his eventual reintegration into society.
- Franco will not be required to serve time in custody provided he maintains a fixed residence and remains under judicial supervision.
- An appeals court in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, revoked his judicial pardon and upheld his conviction for sexual and psychological abuse of a minor.
- The judges additionally ordered the forfeiture of approximately 2.1 million Dominican pesos (£25,900).
- Franco was found guilty of sexual and psychological abuse of a minor and given a three-year suspended sentence.
- FILE - Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco reacts at the end of his trial on charges of sexually abusing a minor, in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, May 25, 2026.
- Franco can appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Dominican Republic.
What's still developing
- According to AP's account of the proceedings, the funds came from Franco in exchange for her consent to the relationship with her daughter.
- Dover schools participated in Red Ribbon Week this week, joining schools across the nation in raising awareness of the dangers of drug abuse and encouraging students to make healthy choices.
- "This is a question that the [Supreme Court] itself went out of its way, you can say, to leave open for adjudication in a future case," Morley said.
- "And so the government is asking the Supreme Court to set one uniform interpretation for the entire country." The Trump administration's petition is procedurally unusual because Genalo v.
- Federal law requires certain criminal aliens to remain in custody while their deportation cases play out.
- Other appeals courts have taken different approaches, leaving the Supreme Court with a nationwide split over what constitutional protections apply.
- "a foot dragging, sand in the gears exercise."
- "They would switch out attorneys. They would make frivolous filings regarding asylum, regarding withholding of removal. They would ask for delays and continuances upon delays and continuances," Mizelle said.
- "But they're asking for more time on different things, but then at the same time complaining that the whole process is taking too long."
- "The biggest issue that happens here is gamemanship," Chad Mizelle, chair of litigation at the America First Policy Institute and a former acting associate attorney general, told Fox News Digital.
- "A lot of times these aliens will file multiple applications for asylum, withholding removal. They'll get new attorneys, switch out attorneys, ask for continuances, ask for delays," Mizelle said.