Dominican Republic Court Convicts 10 People Who Tried to Kill Baseball Legend David Ortiz

In 2019, Boston Red Sox legend, baseball Hall of Famer, and former MLB champion David Ortiz was shot by a man while in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Now, a Dominican Republic court has convicted 10 people in connection to the attack.

Ortiz is considered a baseball icon not just in Major League Baseball (MLB), but also in the Dominican Republic, as he is considered one of the country's most well-known athletes. However, that fateful night in 2019, he was ambushed by a man who got off a motorcycle and shot the legendary slugger in the back while Ortiz was in a bar with friends.

According to the Associated Press, two men have been sentenced to 30 years in prison by Santo Domingo's First Collegiate Court. This includes the alleged shooter, identified as Rolfi Ferreyra Cruz. The other man sentenced to 30 years in prison is Eddy Vladimir Feliz Garcia. He was the driver of the motorcycle that the alleged shooter was riding.

The Attorney General stated that these other men had "direct participation in the assassination attempt."

Another eight individuals were sentenced to varying prison terms, between five to twenty years. All ten individuals must now also pay around 50 million Dominican Republic Pesos.

According to Bleacher Report, one of them, Alberto Miguel Rodriguez Mota, was the one who paid for the assassination attempt. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

However, three other men, including the one who allegedly planned the attack, Victor Hugo Gomez Vasquez, were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Among the crimes to which the 10 men were sentenced included criminal organization, use of illegal firearms, attempted murder, and complicity. Authorities promised to reveal more details on February 8, 2023.

Why Was David Ortiz Attacked in the Dominican Republic?

The incident happened on June 9, 2019. Dominican Republic police have found that Ortiz was not the actual target of the attack, but the man sitting at the same table as him, Sixto David Fernandez. Police ruled that the attack on David Ortiz was a case of mistaken identity.

According to CBS Sports, after being shot, he was flown back to Boston where he underwent two surgeries. The three-time MLB champion and Red Sox legend then spent around six weeks inside a Boston hospital.

Ortiz also launched an investigation of his own, hiring an American private investigator to look into his attack. That investigator found that a Dominican drug trafficker may have targeted the baseball Hall of Famer because he was jealous of him. However, Dominican authorities contradicted this theory by the private investigator, former Boston police commissioner Edward Davis.

David Ortiz's Baseball Legacy

David Ortiz is one of the most beloved baseball players in the world, with fans in Boston affectionally calling him "Big Papi."

He retired with three MLB rings, all with the Boson Red Sox, and was even inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2022 during his first ballot. He is so beloved in Boston that the attack on him drew outrage from all over Massachusetts.

Overall, he scored 541 home runs and 1,768 RBIs during his long baseball career that spanned two decades.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Red Sox legend David Ortiz speaks out on his shooting and recovery l ABC News