Trump Pardons New York Baseball Legend Darryl Strawberry Over 1995 Tax Evasion Conviction
The White House confirmed on Friday that President Donald Trump pardoned New York baseball legend Darryl Strawberry, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 1995.
“President Trump has approved a pardon for Darryl Strawberry, three-time World Series champion and eight-time MLB All-Star,” a White House spokesperson said. “Mr. Strawberry served time and paid back taxes after pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion. Following his career, Mr. Strawberry found faith in Christianity and has been sober for over a decade – he has become active in ministry and started a recovery center which still operates today.”
Strawberry, now 63, played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball, helping lead both the New York Mets and New York Yankees to World Series championships.
Strawberry thanked the president for the pardon in an Instagram post. The athlete is a former contestant on Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice.
“This has nothing to do with politics — it’s about a Man, President Trump, caring deeply for a friend. God used him as a vessel to set me free forever!” he wrote, revealing he was caring for his wife after a surgery when he received the news from the president.
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The athlete dealt with substance abuse for years and was suspended in 2000 after a positive drug test, effectively ending Strawberry’s long career.
Strawberry faced other suspensions over his substance abuse. According to The New York Times, when they reported on his pleading guilty to tax evasion charges in 1995, he entered his plea just three days after being suspended and dropped by the San Francisco Giants over cocaine use.
He served 11 months in a Florida jail for violating probation on cocaine possession charges and was released in 2003. Strawberry’s pardon covers his tax evasion conviction, but his drug charges were filed by state rather than federal authorities.
Strawberry admitted at the time to failing to report more than $350,000 in income from autograph shows and other events between 1986 and 1990. He was sentenced at the time to three months’ probation and ordered to pay the back taxes he owed.
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