Former All-Star Lenny Dykstra sentenced to jail in bankruptcy fraud case – MLB News
Former three time All-Star Lenny Dykstra was sentenced to six and half months in jail along with 500 hours of community service and $200,000 fine by a U.S. District Judge on Monday. Lenny hid heirlooms and baseball gloves from his Major League days and those
were a part of his bankruptcy filing.
Lenny has been behind bars for seven months already and has previously pleaded no contest to providing false financial statements and grand theft auto. He was originally sentenced by Judge Dean Pregerson for 14 months but was later reduced due to the time
he has already spent in jail.
At the time of his arrest, drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy and synthetic human growth hormones were found in the possession of Dykstra. He was accused of hiding some scones, chandeliers and oven, which the prosecutor later said that Lenny sold for $8500 dollars.
It is also said that he sold a fair amount of baseball memorabilia to a Las Vegas dealer for $15,000. He pleaded no contest in a grand theft auto case and in return the prosecutor dropped 21 counts against him.
The Judge was surprised by some of the behaviour displayed by the defendant in the case. "There's just a sort of spectrum of conduct I can't understand," Pregerson said. "What I am trying to understand is: Who is Mr. Dykstra?"
The 49-year-old said that he is not a bad person but has made some bad choices in life. "I don't think I'm a bad person," said Dykstra. "I made some bad decisions."
His attorneys argued that he had learnt his lesson from the fiasco and also paid the price recently when he was ‘beaten to pulp’ and had some teeth knocked out recently in Los Angeles County Jail.
The spokesperson for the Los Angeles County’s sheriff department down played the incident, calling Lenny the aggressor. He was taken to a hospital by the sheriff’s deputies and was treated for a bloody nose. The spokesperson called the account presented
by his attorneys as inaccurate.
The former centre fielder filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 2009 sighting liabilities worth $31 million where as having a total amount of assets worth $50,000. Afterwards, he hid, sold or destroyed items without the permission of bankruptcy trustee which
were worth around $200,000.
He had some supporters in court including his son Cutter, a Minor League player with the Washington Nationals and his ex-wife. He gave thumbs up to his supporters while being taken away.
It is expected the Lenny Dykstra will be free by the middle of 2013. One can hope that he has learnt his lesson and will not be committing such errors in his life again. It also serves as a reminder to rest of us that going down crime ally is never a good
option.
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