Legal problems for Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco continue to mount.
Already on trial for alleged sexual abuse of a minor, the former American League All-Star was charged Sunday with illegal possession of a firearm, police said.
Franco, 24, was arrested in November following an altercation in a parking lot in San Juan de la Maguana, about 115 miles northwest of Santo Domingo. During the arrest, police found a semiautomatic Glock 19 in his vehicle, according to a statement from the Dominican Public Prosecutor’s Office obtained by the Associated Press.
Prosecutors said the handgun was registered to Franco’s uncle and requested Franco stand trial on the gun charge.
In response, Franco’s attorney said that since the gun was licensed, ‘there’s nothing illegal about it.’
Franco is currently on MLB’s restricted list as his trial on sex abuse charges continues.
The 2023 AL All-Star – who signed an 11-year, $182 million contract with the Rays in 2021 – has not played since August 2023, when he was first accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a then 14-year-old girl in the Dominican Republic. He was placed on the restricted list after he was ordered to stand trial in the Dominican Republic on charges of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of a minor and human trafficking.
Franco faces up to 20 years in prison on those charges and also remains under MLB investigation for violations of its joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy.