Wander Franco released on supervised release after weapons arrest

SAN JUAN DE LA MAGUANA, Dominican Republic – Wander Franco, the Tampa Bay Rays shortstop awaiting trial in a sex abuse case, was released on supervised release Wednesday after being arrested and charged with illegally carrying a weapon in his car during an altercation in a parking lot in the Dominican Republic.

Dominican judge Viamerca Ruiz said Franco must report to court once a month while he is under investigation for carrying the firearm registered in his uncle’s name.

French, 23, was arrested on Sunday after an argument broke out in the parking lot of an apartment complex in San Juan de la Maguana. A man and a woman were also arrested during the confrontation. Two firearms were seized, police said.

“The gun is licensed… so there is nothing illegal about it,” said Antonio Garcia Lorenzo, one of Franco’s lawyers. “We ask for his release, it’s that simple. They have already examined the gun, and it is not his, it has an owner.”

The lawyer also said that Franco was “just visiting” in San Juan de la Maguana.

A conviction for illegal possession of a firearm can carry a prison sentence of three to five years.

Franco will stand trial on December 12 in the northern province of Puerto Plata in a sexual abuse case involving a 14-year-old girl. He was also charged with sexual and commercial exploitation of a minor and human trafficking.

Franco was released on parole on January 5, four days after his arrest on abuse charges.

Franco, who has refused to speak to the media, has said of the sex abuse case: “Everything is in God’s hands.”

Franco was in his third Major League season when his career was halted in August 2023. In November 2021, he agreed to an 11-year contract worth $182 million.

Tampa Bay placed him on the restricted list on July 10, halting pay he had received while on administrative leave.