- A court in the Dominican Republic has sentenced 10 men to prison for their involvement in the attempted assassination of former Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz in June 2019.
- Rolfi Ferreras Cruz and Eddy Vladimir Féliz García received the longest sentences of 30 years, while Alberto Miguel Rodríguez Mota was sentenced to 20 years.
- Several other individuals received sentences ranging from 5 to 10 years, while three suspects were exonerated for lack of sufficient evidence. Ortiz was shot and wounded in the attack and had to undergo multiple surgeries.
A Dominican court handed down sentences ranging from 5 to 30 years in prison to 10 men involved in the assassination attempt against former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz in June 2019.
The court handed down the sentence to those involved, who have been serving pre-trial detention since that year, for having participated in the execution or organization of the ambush in which Ortiz was shot and wounded while he was with a group of friends in an exclusive bar in Santo Domingo.
On the night of that Sunday, June 9, a man got off a motorcycle and shot the former baseball player from behind and at close range.
The retired baseball player had to undergo several surgeries in his native Dominican Republic and in the United States.
The judges determined that Rolfi “Sandy” Ferreras Cruz, 27, was the person who fired the shots and that Eddy “Nata” Vladimir Féliz García, 26, drove the motorcycle. Both were sentenced to 30 years in prison.
“Alberto Miguel Rodríguez Mota, 28 years old, the person who paid the perpetrators, must serve 20 years in prison”, informed the Dominican judicial body in a press release.
Along with them, Oliver Moisés Mirabal, 28, and José Eduardo “Chucky” Ciprián Lebrón, 24, were sentenced to ten years in prison. A nine-year sentence was also imposed on Gabriel Alexander “Hueso” Pérez Vizcaíno (Hueso), 31, and a six-year sentence on Joel “Calamardo” Rodríguez de la Cruz, 28.
Franklin Junior Merán (Rubirosa), 26, Junior César “Yayo” La Hoz Vargas, 28, and Porfirio Ayendi “Nene” Dechamps Vásquez, 29, were sentenced to five years in prison for minor participation.
“There was association of wrongdoers, use of illegal firearms, attempted murder and complicity, crimes foreseen and punished in articles 2, 265, 266, 296, 296, 297, 298 and 302 of the Dominican Penal Code”, detailed the prosecutors.
The first collegiate court also exonerated on Monday three suspects, for lack of sufficient evidence. Among them was Víctor Hugo Gómez Vásquez, accused of planning the attack.
U.S. private investigators hired by Ortiz said the former Hall of Fame player was attacked on the orders of a Dominican drug trafficker who was jealous of him.
The findings of former Boston police commissioner Edward Davis contradicted an earlier hypothesis by Dominican authorities that the hitman was hired by Sixto David Fernandez, Ortiz’s cousin who was at the same table at the time of the attack.
Dominican authorities had conjectured that the hitmen mistook Fernandez for Ortiz.
“Big Papi,” possessed tremendous power with the bat and a captivating smile, leading Boston to three World Series titles. He was elected 10 times to the All-Star Game and amassed 541 home runs before retiring in 2016.
When he was attacked, he was residing in the Dominican Republic for part of the year.
As a result of the gunshots, Ortiz’s gallbladder and part of an intestine had to be removed.
Authorities noted that they will release further details of the sentencing on February 8.