Felipe Vazquez, the former major league pitcher convicted of having sex with a 13-year-old girl, was sentenced Tuesday to 2-4 years in prison.
Vazquez, 30, will get credit for 23 months of time served, meaning he’ll be eligible for parole in one month, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. However, he could spend even more time behind bars because he faces charges in Florida and Missouri in connection with the same victim, who is now 17.
In May, Vazquez was convicted on 15 counts related to a single 2017 incident when he met the girl in Scottdale, Pa., and had sex with her in the town about 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Vazquez was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates at the time.
He was arrested in 2019 after the victim’s mother found photos on her phone and alerted police. The victim and her family had moved to Florida by then, but Vazquez remained in contact with her.
Because of that continued contact, Vazquez faces child porn charges in Florida and Missouri.
Vazquez was an All-Star reliever with the Pirates in 2019 and drew the attention of several teams at the trade deadline. The Pirates hung on to him, and he has not thrown an MLB pitch since his arrest in September of that year.
Vazquez’s attorney, Gary Gerson, believes his client’s baseball career is over and that he likely will face a deportation order, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review reported. Vazquez is a Venezuelan citizen.
