President Donald Trump approved a pardon for baseball legend Darryl Strawberry in relation to his 1995 guilty plea for federal tax fraud, a White House official confirmed to the New York Post on Friday (November 7).

“President Trump has approved a pardon for Darryl Strawberry, three-time World Series champion and eight-time MLB All-Star,” the official said. “Mr. Strawberry served time and paid back taxes after pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion.

“Following his career, Mr. Strawberry found faith in Christianity and has been sober for over a decade – he has become active in ministry and started a recovery center which still operates today.”

Strawberry, 63, served three years probation and six months of home confinement, as well as having repaid $350,000 in back taxes and penalties, in relation to his tax evasion guilty plea. The former outfielder signed a six-year, $7.1 million contract extension with the New York Mets in 1985, one year prior to the team's last World Series victory, and set aside $700,000 as an interest-bearing annuity, which was auctioned off by the IRS after his case concluded.

Strawberry, who won three more World Series titles with the New York Yankees and also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, had several other legal incidents during and shortly after his playing career. The slugger was released twice for testing positive for cocaine, once with the Giants in February 1995 and later with the Yankees in 2000, effectively retiring after the positive test.

Strawberry was also arrested for soliciting sex from an undercover cop and possession of cocaine in April 1999, pleading no contest and being sentenced to 21 months probation and community service, as well a busting the rule violations at the drug treatment center where he was serving his probation in March 2002, serving 11 months in jail in April 2003, both of which were not included in the pardon.

RJ Harris