Cleveland Guardians pitchers charged in rigged betting scheme

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — TWO CURRENT CLEVELAND GUARDIANS PLAYERS HAVE BEEN INDICTED AND CHARGED IN A SPORTS BETTING and money laundering conspiracy. An indictment was unsealed Sunday, Nov. 9 at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, charging two defendants, Emmanuel Clase de la Cruz, 27, and Luis Leandro Ortiz Ribera, 26, on several counts, including conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery for their alleged roles in a scheme to rig bets on pitches thrown during Major League Baseball games.

Indictment papers show that the defendants agreed in advance with their co-conspirators on specific pitches that they would throw in MLB games. The co-conspirators then used that information to place hundreds of fraudulent bets on those pitches. The indictment includes numerous examples of pitches that Clase rigged, including during a Guardians and New York Mets game. By rigging pitches, Clase caused his co-conspirator bettors to win at least $400,000 in fraudulent wagers. Ortiz’ rigged-pitch scheme caused his co-conspirator bettors to win at least $60,000 in fraudulent wagers.

Arrested Sunday in Boston, Ortiz will make his initial court appearance there on Monday, Nov. 10, and will be arraigned at a later date in the Eastern District of New York. Clase is currently not in U.S. custody.

✰✰✰