Former MLB star Lenny Dykstra admits to financial fraud

In this June 16, 2011 file photo, former baseball player Lenny Dykstra appears in a courtroom in San Fernando, Calif. / AP Photo/Nick Ut, File

(AP) LOS ANGELES - Former All-Star outfielder Lenny Dykstra pleaded guilty Friday and could face 20 years in prison for hiding and selling sports memorabilia and other items that were supposed to be part of his bankruptcy filing.

Dykstra, 49, entered his plea in U.S. District Court to one count each of bankruptcy fraud, concealment of assets and money laundering.

It was the latest legal problem for Dykstra, who earned the nickname "Nails" because of his gritty style of play, and spent his 12-year career with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. He previously pleaded no contest to grand theft auto and exposing himself to women he met through Craigslist.

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Dykstra, who bought a mansion once owned by hockey star Wayne Gretzky, filed for bankruptcy three years ago, claiming he owed more than $31 million and had only $50,000 in assets.

After the filing, Dykstra hid, sold or destroyed more than $400,000 worth of items without permission of a bankruptcy trustee, prosecutors said.

"Mr. Dykstra's days of playing games with the public and the legal system are over," said U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. "These convictions should serve as a cautionary tale of a high-flying sports celebrity who tried to manipulate and exploit both his creditors and the bankruptcy laws."

Court documents show Dykstra said he put an oven, sconces and chandeliers into a storage unit, but prosecutors said he actually sold the items for $8,500.

He also hid baseball gloves, balls, bats and other memorabilia from the bankruptcy court and creditors and sold them last year for about $15,000, court documents show.

Asked by U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson if he had committed the crimes involved in the guilty plea, Dykstra responded, "Yes, your honor."

Dykstra, wearing a jail-issued green jacket and white jumpsuit, entered the courtroom shackled in handcuffs. The stocky, gray-haired defendant conferred briefly with his defense attorneys before the hearing and was led away by U.S. marshals.

Dykstra was indicted in February on 15 counts. Prosecutors said he agreed to waive his right to appeal if he's sentenced to less than 51 months in prison. Dykstra also could face fines up to $750,000.

He is currently serving a three-year prison sentence after pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement. In that case, Dykstra was arrested last year by police who said they found cocaine, Ecstasy and synthetic human growth hormone at his Los Angeles home last. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped 21 counts against him.

He also was sentenced this year to nine months in jail after pleading no contest to charges he exposed himself to women he met through Craigslist.

[FreddySanford]

Why the $%#$ do we put white collar criminals in shackles and handcuffs?????? And why is this man taking up space in our prison system????? Get him on house arrest. Our judges suck and our judicial system is a stinkin train wreck

[gjc1n1]

Tell the women he exposed himself to and the owner of the car he stole that this was JUST "white collar" crime.

[TheKritik]

I'd like to see mit romney charged too with wire fraud and embezlement for his off-shore bankaccounts where he stashes 100's of millions.

[askagain]

People can have as many offshore accounts as they want as long as they report income for tax purposes. It is perfectly legal. Learn something about the law before shooting your mouth off.

[nor-one]

askagain-- Of course it's legal. When you have theives making the laws, of course stealing is legal!

[jackpenn]

I am a Phillies fan, and liked Lenny Dykstra when he played for Philadelphia and was part of the reason the Phillies gained success with players like him. He was an exciting ball player, and was like the "Steve McQueen" of baseball with his bad boy mannerism on the field and at bat. However, I think when athletes finally get to old to do what they loved doing, and their careers are over at an early age, unless they have invested their earnings properly, most of them end up going broke. In Dykstra's case he ended up a "crook" and deserves to get the time for the crime.

[FormerUSMCSergeant]

Good at chasing a ball, like a terrier, but not much else......

[talkin2u924]

Nail was a great player but also came off as a guy, I could tell, I would never ever trust in a million years. Nails gets what he deserves...Jail.

[duckz86]

He'll see a lot of "nails" in prison too, I'm sure.

[qwetzol]

What a shame. Why do these people who once lived the grand life think the rules and laws do not apply to them?

[hypnotoad72]

"Because there is no such thing as society." Those who are propped up believe that shlock even more. Indeed, when the person who came up with that quote retired and lives off the taxpayer dole, she should have been called out as a fraud, but before I digress further...

When a society ignores both the rule of law and the spirit of the law, that's when those in a position of power and influence (think "has lots of money") tend to think they can do whatever they want because their money lets them. Add in the other phrase, "we have the best government that money can buy" and that should all add up to a nearly sufficient, albeit glib, explanation.

I don't know how anyone could owe $31 million, not even in student loans... so the guy has some real issues. The trouble is, he's not in the working class and how anyone can see value in running around a large diamond-shaped field throwing a ball as being "productive work"... or moreso than the scores of jobs that require more intellect, pay exponentially less than Mr Orangejacket pictured there would "earn" in one day, that are being offshored due to supposedly high costs... In 1994 he made $2.6 MILLION dollars for running around holding a ball...

[Montana5]

hypnotoad72-"Because there is no such thing as society"? What on earth are you babbling about?