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10 people convicted in Red Sox player murder case

A Dominican court has convicted 10 people in connection with the attempted murder of former Red Sox baseball star David Ortiz in 2019, authorities confirmed Tuesday.

Ortiz, a native of Dominica, was ambushed by a man who got off his motorbike and shot him in the back at close range while Ortiz was at a bar with friends in a well-off neighborhood of Santo Domingo.

Two men, including alleged shooter Rolfi Ferreyra Cruz, were each sentenced to 30 years in prison by Santo Domingo’s First College Court.

Eight others received prison sentences ranging from five to 20 years. Three other defendants were acquitted due to insufficient evidence, including Victor Hugo Gomez Vasquez, who was accused of planning the attack.

American private investigators hired by Ortiz say that the Hall of Fame smuggler affectionately known as Big Papi was targeted by a Dominican drug dealer who was jealous of him.

The findings of former Boston police commissioner Edward Davis contradict a previous theory by law enforcement in the Dominican Republic that the assassin was actually hired to shoot Ortiz’s cousin Sixto David Fernandez, who was sitting same table.

Dominican authorities say the killers confused Fernandez with Ortiz, one of the country’s most beloved soccer players.

A fearsome power hitter with a ready smile, Ortiz led the Red Sox to three World Series championships, 10 All-Star titles and 541 home runs before retiring in 2016. When he was shot, he was living part of the year in the Dominican Republic.

Ortiz was seriously injured in a shooting in June 2019. Doctors in the Dominican Republic removed Ortiz’s gallbladder and part of his intestines after the shooting and he underwent further surgery in the US.

Among the charges for which the 10 men were convicted were organized crime, illegal use of a weapon, attempted murder and complicity, the court wrote in a statement.

Authorities note that more detailed information on the verdict will be announced on February 8, 2023.

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Janetsky reports from Havana. Associated Press writer Martin Jose Adames Alcantara contributed to this report from Santo Domingo.



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