New York (AFP) – The trial of two Major League Baseball players accused of rigging pitches in a gambling scheme got under way in New York on Monday with jury selection. Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz deny multiple federal charges including wire fraud, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering conspiracy.
Clase, 28, and Ortiz, 27, are accused of being part of a scheme with corrupt bettors who earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from wagers on specific throws placed on popular betting platforms such as DraftKings and FanDuel. The Dominican right-handers were put on leave in July 2025 as authorities launched an investigation into the claims and were subsequently indicted last November.
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Prosecutors have said the pitchers agreed in advance with their co-conspirators on specific pitches they would throw, the bettors using that inside information to place fraudulent bets. Clase became involved in the scheme to rig “prop” bets on particular pitches in 2023, with wagers on the speed and type of throws he would make, prosecutors said.
“Clase often threw these rigged pitches on the first pitch of an at-bat,” prosecutors said in an earlier statement. “To ensure certain pitches were called as balls, Clase threw many of them in the dirt, well outside the strike zone.” Clase received kickbacks from the bettors for the information and sometimes provided money to finance the scheme, according to charges. Overall, Clase and Ortiz helped those placing the bets win around $450,000 from fraudulent wagers.
Prosecutors have said Ortiz joined the conspiracy in 2025, citing a game in June last year in which the pitcher received $5,000 for agreeing to throw a certain pitch after conspiring with Clase. The illegal scheme came to light after betting platforms flagged an unusually large volume of bets on Ortiz’s first pitch in a game against the Seattle Mariners on June 15, 2025, and in another game later that month against the St. Louis Cardinals.
A court filing by prosecutors said Clase and Ortiz had “defrauded betting platforms…illegally enriched themselves and their co-conspirators, misled the public, and betrayed America’s pastime.” Each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on wire fraud conspiracy, 20 years for honest services wire fraud conspiracy, five years on conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and 20 years on the money laundering conspiracy charge.
© 2024 AFP
