The Puerto Plata Court of Appeals closed the most anticipated chapter of the Wander Franco case on October 29, 2026: it annulled the judicial pardon granted five months earlier and sentenced Franco to three years of suspended imprisonment for sexual and psychological abuse against a 14-year-old girl. Suspended does not mean free — Franco will be subject to strict conditions set by a sentencing judge, and any violation sends him directly to the Centro de Corrección San Felipe in Puerto Plata to serve the full three years.
The ruling came one day after the Tampa Bay Rays lost the 2026 World Series to the Milwaukee Brewers — without Franco on the roster since August 2023.
What the Court Reversed — and Why It Matters
On May 25, 2026, a lower court had found Franco criminally responsible but granted him a judicial pardon, effectively shielding him from any punishment. Prosecutors rejected that outcome and appealed, seeking five years of effective prison time. The appeals panel — judges Miguelina Beard, Germán Martínez, and Manuel Ureña — sided with the prosecution, though stopped short of the requested sentence: three suspended years, a fine of three minimum wages, and the forfeiture of 2.1 million Dominican pesos.
The distinction between suspended and actual incarceration is the most misunderstood part of this case. Franco walks free for now, but one violation of the court-imposed conditions and he serves every day of that sentence behind bars.
The case is not over. Franco’s defense attorney, Teodosio Jáquez Encarnación, announced the ruling will be appealed to the Dominican Supreme Court — a process that could stretch on for years.
A $182 Million Contract Still Running on Pause
Franco signed the largest extension in Rays history in November 2021: 11 years, $182 million — the biggest MLB contract ever given to a player with less than one year of service time at signing. Since landing on the restricted list in August 2023, the Rays have withheld approximately $24 million in salary. Roughly $147 million remains on the books through 2032, and neither side has announced any move to void the deal.
MLB has its own ongoing investigation and had not issued a formal discipline stemming specifically from the October 29 appeals ruling as of this writing. The Rays also made no official statement on how the verdict affects Franco’s contractual status.
The timing is striking: the verdict dropped the day after Tampa Bay fell to Milwaukee in five games (4-1) in the 2026 World Series, closing a season the Rays played without their star shortstop for more than three years running.
The Other Sentence: 10 Years for the Victim’s Mother
In the same ruling, the court upheld a 10-year prison sentence against Martha Vanessa Chevalier, the victim’s mother, on charges of commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering. The court also confirmed the forfeiture of the 2.1 million pesos seized from her. Chevalier’s sentence — harsher and non-suspended — has been a constant throughout every stage of this case.
The next legal move belongs to Franco’s defense team at the Dominican Supreme Court. While that appeal works its way through the system, Franco remains out of baseball, MLB has given no public timeline for closing its own investigation, and the ~$147 million still owed on his contract makes whatever decision comes next one of the most expensive rulings in recent league history.
