Former MLB All-Star Esteban Loaiza released from prison after cocaine trafficking conviction

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Esteban Loaiza is set to be released from federal prison and deported to Mexico this week serving three years for trafficking cocaine.  

A veteran of 14 seasons, Loaiza received a 36-month sentence in March 2019 as part of a plea bargain deal after he admitted to possessing 20 kilos of cocaine with the intent of distribution.

Loaiza will walk free from FDC SEATAC in Seattle, Washington, on Friday.  

An official with the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of California Justice confirmed his release to DailyMail.com on Thursday, saying that the former All-Star had been made aware of his deportation to Mexico during his trial.

DailyMail.com reached out to Loaiza’s lawyer, Janice Deaton, for comment.

Former Major League pitcher Esteban Loaiza will be deported to Mexico after he is released from a federal prison Friday, according to an official with the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of California who spoke to DailyMail.com on Thursday. Loaiza received a 36-month sentence in March 2019 as part of his plea bargain deal after he admitted to possessing 20 kilos with the intent of distribution

Esteban Loaiza, is arraigned in California Superior Court in Chula Vista, California in 2018

Esteban Loaiza will conclude his 36-month prison sentence when he is released from FDC SEATAC in Seattle, Washington, on Friday

Loaiza told authorities that he took a Mercedes Benz SUV that was loaded with cocaine on February 9, 2018, and drove it to a home he rented near a preschool in Imperial Beach, California. 

He removed the drugs, 20 packages in all, and stored beneath baseball bags with his name on it and the rear floor panel in the trunk area of a Nissan.

The Tijuana, Mexico, native confessed to authorities that he had plans of distributing the cocaine to another person.

His arrest was part of an ongoing drug probe by San Diego County police.

At the time of Loaiza’s sentencing, US Attorney Robert Brewer lamented the former ballplayer’s fall from grace.

‘As a professional athlete, Esteban Loaiza earned tens of millions of dollars and the admiration of baseball fans across the U.S. and Mexico,’ Brewer said. ‘And yet he sacrificed his reputation â€" and now his freedom â€" to become a cocaine trafficker. No one is above the law, and that includes Major League (All-Star) pitchers.’

Two years after his last season in the big leagues, Esteban Loaiza married Mexican-American pop singer Jenni Rivera. The marriage hit rock bottom two years later as the couple began divorce proceeding before Rivera died in a plane crash on December 9, 2012 in Nuevo León, Mexico

Esteban Loaiza pictured with the Oakland A’s before a game against the New York Yankees in 2007

DEA Special Agent in Charge Karen Flowers slammed the two-time All-Star for choosing a different path in life 10 years after throwing his last pitch in the majors.

‘Mr. Loaiza lived every young boy’s dream as an All-Star baseball player. And yet, he chose to be a drug dealer,’ Flowers said. ‘He chose to break the law for profit. He chose to make a buck off someone’s addiction. Today, society chose to hold him accountable and took away his freedom.’

Loaiza was named an All-Star as a member of the Chicago White Sox in 2003, when he led the American League in strikeouts and finished second in the Cy Young voting.

He also played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Washington Nationals, Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers before returning to Chicago, where he finished his career in 2008.

He finished his 14-year career with a record of 126-114 to go with a 4.65 earned-run average. Loaiza has more Major League wins than any other pitcher born in Mexico besides Fernando Valenzuela.

Esteban Loaiza was named an All-Star as a member of the Chicago White Sox in 2003, when he led the American League in strikeouts and finished second in the Cy Young voting

Two years after his last season in the big leagues, Loaiza married Mexican-American pop singer Jenni Rivera. The marriage hit rock bottom two years later as the couple began divorce proceeding before Rivera died in a plane crash on December 9, 2012 in Nuevo León, Mexico.

Loaiza earned close to $43million between the ages of 23 and 36.

According to a May 2020 Bleacher Report story, Loaiza splurged most of his fortune on a lavish lifestyle that included expensive gifts for family and friends.

Years before his highly publicized marriage to Mexican-American pop star Jenni Rivera, who died in a 2012 plane crash amid the couple’s divorce proceedings, Loaiza allegedly carried on an affair with his Texas Rangers teammate Iván Rodríguez’s nanny, 19-year-old Ashley Esposito.

Loaiza’s first wife, Christina Teadora Varrasso, accused him of starting that affair two weeks before they were married in 1998, adding that he bought Esposito a $65,000 Lexus, $30,000 cars for two of her siblings, and spent another $145,809 in medical bills for his mistress.

And after Esposito gave birth to his child in 2001, Varrasso claimed, he began paying her mother $72,000 annually to take care of the child during the day.

According to court documents in that 2000 divorce, Loiaza also ‘purchased several Rolex watches for teammates, a car for his mother, and two cars for himself all totaling approximately $184,000.’

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk

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