WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., April 24 -- Slugger Darryl Strawberry was sentenced Monday to three years probation, six months home confinement and $350,000 in restitution for tax evasion. The former New York Met, Los Angeles Dodger and San Francisco Giant pleaded guilty two months ago to failing to report nearly half a million dollars in income from baseball card shows and autograph signings between 1986 and 1990.
Strawberry, 32, initially pleaded innocent when he and his manager, Eric Goldschmidt, were indicted. But then he took a plea bargain offered by prosecutors and agreed to spend three months in prison and three months confined to his home. However, Strawberry avoided jail time under the sentence imposed Monday in WhitePlains, N.Y., federal court by U.S. District Judge Barrington Parker. Outside the courtroom, Strawberry apologized to his fans. 'I'm very grateful today that things turned out the way it did,' he said. 'I just look forward to turning my life around.' As part of the sentence, the ballplayer agreed to undergo drug counseling. Strawberry has had a long battle with substance abuse, entering the Smithers Center for alcohol rehabilitation in 1990, when he was with the Mets. After eight years in New York, he signed with the Dodgers prior to the 1991 season but was released in 1994 after a recurrence of substance abuse. In February, he was released by the Giants and suspended from baseball for 60 days after twice testing positive for cocaine. He has not signed with another team.
