MLB Franco, Accused of Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking of Minors, Has his Salary Suspended

Wander Franco (23), who has been indicted by the Dominican Republic on charges of sexual exploitation of minors and human trafficking, will not receive a salary from the Tampa Bay Rays of the US professional baseball league.

On the 11th (Korean time), the US sports media outlet ESPN reported that “the Tampa Bay team requested that the Major League Baseball (MLB) office ‘list Franco on the restricted player list.'”

The MLB office accepted this,” the report said, adding that “Franco will no longer receive a salary or MLB service time.” 안전 슬롯사이트

Franco was placed on the restricted list on August 15th of last year when the issue of sexual crimes against minors arose, but within a week, MLB issued an “indefinite administrative leave” with “paid” instructions to Franco in accordance with an agreement with the players’ union.

Even as the 2024 season opened in March of this year, MLB maintained Franco’s status as a “player on indefinite administrative leave.”

Tampa Bay, which had to pay Franco’s salary even though he couldn’t even stand on the ground, requested the MLB office to “place Franco on the restricted player list.”

When the MLB office accepted this, Tampa Bay stopped paying Franco’s salary.

Franco was charged with three charges: sexual abuse of a minor, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking.

ESPN reported that “according to about 600 pages of documents we obtained, Franco had a relationship with a 14-year-old girl when he was 21, and paid the girl’s mother $1,700 a month, including giving her a new car.

The girl’s mother has been charged with money laundering,” and “Franco could face up to 20 years in prison.”

Franco, who debuted in the major league in 2021, signed a large contract worth up to $223 million (about 376 billion won) for 12 years with Tampa Bay in November of that year.

The contract is structured so that he receives a relatively small amount at the beginning and his annual salary increases significantly starting in 2026, so Franco’s annual salary in 2024 was $2 million (about 2.75 billion won).

Wander Franco has already received $550,000 (about 750 million won) after taxes this year, but he will not receive the rest of his annual salary.