WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has pardoned former New York Mets nice Darryl Strawberry on previous tax evasion and drug expenses, citing the 1983 Nationwide League Rookie of the Yr’s post-career embrace of his Christian religion and longtime sobriety.
Strawberry was an outfielder and eight-time All-Star, together with seven with the Mets from 1983-90. He hit 335 homers and had 1,000 RBIs and 221 stolen bases in 17 seasons.
Stricken by later authorized, well being and private issues, Strawberry was indicted for tax evasion and ultimately pleaded responsible in 1995 to a single felony depend. That was primarily based on his failure to report $350,000 in earnings from autographs, private appearances and gross sales of memorabilia.
Strawberry agreed to pay greater than $430,000 as a part of the case. He was recognized with colon most cancers and underwent surgical procedure and chemotherapy in 1998.
The next yr, Strawberry was sentenced to probation and suspended from baseball after pleading no contest to expenses of possession of cocaine and soliciting a prostitute. He ultimately spoke in court docket about battling despair, and was charged with violating his probation quite a few instances — together with on his fortieth birthday in 2002.
Strawberry finally served 11 months in Florida state jail, and was launched in 2003.
A White Home official stated Friday that Trump permitted a pardon for Strawberry, who had served time and paid again taxes. Talking on situation of anonymity to element a pardon that had not but been formally introduced, the official famous that Strawberry discovered religion in Christianity and has been sober for greater than a decade, and that he’d develop into lively in ministry and began a still-active restoration heart.
Strawberry posted on Instagram an image of himself and Trump and wrote, “Thanks, President @realdonaldtrump for my full pardon and for finalizing this a part of my life, permitting me to be really free and clear from all of my previous.”
He described being residence Thursday afternoon, caring for his spouse, who was recovering from surgical procedure, “when my cellphone saved ringing relentlessly.”
“Half asleep, I glanced over and noticed a name from Washington DC. Curious, I answered, and to my amazement, the woman on the road stated, ‘Darryl Strawberry, you will have a name from the President of america, Donald Trump,’” Strawberry wrote. “I put it on speakerphone with my spouse close by, and President Trump spoke warmly about my baseball days in NYC, praising me as one the best participant of the ’80s and celebrating the Mets. Then, he advised me he was granting me a full pardon from my previous.”
Trump was a New York actual property mogul earlier than changing into a actuality tv star and twice profitable the presidency.
Strawberry stated he was “overwhelmed with gratitude — thanking God for setting me free from my previous, serving to me develop into a greater Man, Husband and Father.”
“This expertise has deepened my religion and dedication to working for His kingdom as a real follower of Jesus Christ,” Strawberry wrote, whereas additionally noting, “This has nothing to do with politics — it’s a couple of Man, President Trump, caring deeply for a good friend. God used him as a vessel to set me free without end!”
The president has broad constitutional powers to grant pardons, which don’t expunge the recipient’s legal document however may be seen as acts of justice or mercy, usually in instances that may additional public welfare.
Strawberry’s adopted Trump issuing pardons this week for a former Republican speaker of the Tennessee Home and a onetime aide on public corruption expenses. It additionally provides to a listing of celebrities and political allies who’ve equally acquired unlikely pardons — together with a former Republican governor of Connecticut, an ex-GOP congressman and actuality TV stars who had been convicted of cheating banks and evading taxes.
Strawberry performed for the Mets, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants between 1983 and 1999. He won the World Series with the 1986 Mets, starring alongside the likes of Dwight Gooden and Keith Hernandez, and with the Yankees in 1996, 1998 and 1999.
Strawberry was hospitalized with a heart attack in March 2024, a day earlier than he turned 62. That very same yr, the Mets retired his No. 18 and an emotional Strawberry advised the Citi Area crowd: “I’m really, deeply sorry that I ever left you guys. I by no means performed baseball in entrance of followers larger than you guys.”
