Lenny Dykstra pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles Monday in a federal case where he’s accused of embezzling money from a bankruptcy estate.
Federal prosecutors contend Dykstra sold or destroyed more than $400,000 worth of items from an $18.5 million mansion without permission of a bankruptcy trustee.
Dykstra appeared dazed in court, according to The Associated Press report. When asked if he understood the charges against him, he replied, “I don’t understand it, but I understand them.”
The former Met and Phillie showed up with a new lawyer today, a deputy federal public defender. His previous lawyer, Mark Werksman, declined to say why he no longer represented Dykstra. Financial issues would seem to be the obvious cause.
Dykstra is being held in Los Angeles County Jail after being charged with 25 misdemeanor and felony counts of grand theft auto, attempted grand theft auto, identity theft and other crimes. If convicted of all counts, he’d face a maximum of 80 years in prison. His trial is scheduled to begin on May 9.
The 48-year-old Dykstra is also facing charges in a different case after police found drugs such as cocaine and synthetic hGH at his home last month. He’s scheduled for an arraignment on those charges Thursday
Federal prosecutors contend Dykstra sold or destroyed more than $400,000 worth of items from an $18.5 million mansion without permission of a bankruptcy trustee.
Dykstra appeared dazed in court, according to The Associated Press report. When asked if he understood the charges against him, he replied, “I don’t understand it, but I understand them.”
The former Met and Phillie showed up with a new lawyer today, a deputy federal public defender. His previous lawyer, Mark Werksman, declined to say why he no longer represented Dykstra. Financial issues would seem to be the obvious cause.
Dykstra is being held in Los Angeles County Jail after being charged with 25 misdemeanor and felony counts of grand theft auto, attempted grand theft auto, identity theft and other crimes. If convicted of all counts, he’d face a maximum of 80 years in prison. His trial is scheduled to begin on May 9.
The 48-year-old Dykstra is also facing charges in a different case after police found drugs such as cocaine and synthetic hGH at his home last month. He’s scheduled for an arraignment on those charges Thursday
THIS Is Rock Bottom
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/6896893/lenny-dykstra-charged-indecent-exposure-los-angeles
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LOS ANGELES -- Former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Lenny Dykstra has been charged in Los Angeles for allegedly exposing himself to women he met on Craigslist.
The city attorney's office said Thursday the 48-year-old former baseball star could face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for each indecent exposure count.
Dykstra is accused of finding victims by placing online ads seeking personal assistants or housekeepers. He allegedly exposed himself to women who responded to the ads on several occasions between 2009 and 2011.
County records show Dykstra has been jailed since June on $455,000 bail on car theft and drug possession charges. He also faces bankruptcy fraud charges.
Mark Hathaway, whose law office represented Dykstra in the past, does not know who is now representing Dykstra.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/6896893/lenny-dykstra-charged-indecent-exposure-los-angeles
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LOS ANGELES -- Former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Lenny Dykstra has been charged in Los Angeles for allegedly exposing himself to women he met on Craigslist.
The city attorney's office said Thursday the 48-year-old former baseball star could face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for each indecent exposure count.
Dykstra is accused of finding victims by placing online ads seeking personal assistants or housekeepers. He allegedly exposed himself to women who responded to the ads on several occasions between 2009 and 2011.
County records show Dykstra has been jailed since June on $455,000 bail on car theft and drug possession charges. He also faces bankruptcy fraud charges.
Mark Hathaway, whose law office represented Dykstra in the past, does not know who is now representing Dykstra.
Lenny Dykstra and Jose Canseco to fight on Saturday
http://content.usatoday.com/communi...-dykstra-jose-canseco-boxing-match-saturday/1
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Do down-and-out athletes simply have a gift for finding new ways to hit rock bottom? We ask only because Jose Canseco and Lenny Dykstra are scheduled to have a boxing match Saturday night.The bout between the two former MLB outfielders is part of Alki David's Celebrity Fight Night at the Avalon Concert Hall in Hollywood. And it immediately begs two questions.
Will it result in a no-hitter? And will there be drug testing?
Dykstra business manager Dan Herman told PhillySports.com that: "Lenny is fighting for his good name in baseball. Lenny's life for the last two years has been upside down mainly because of snitches. Canseco is one of the many rats that have diminished Dykstra's career."
That's a reference to Canseco's tell-all book about steroids in MLB, Juiced.
The fight is scheduled to stream online at FilmOn.com and promoters say it also will be available for pay-per-view via Comcast and others.
Dykstra, 48, has filed for bankruptcy and has court cases pending on charges of grand theft auto, drug possession and indecent exposure.
Canseco, 47, had a California home foreclosed on in 2008 and has said his two divorces cost him millions. In 2009, he suffered a first-round KO in an MMA fight against Choi Hong-man of South Korea.
In their primes, these two never would have fought in the same weight division. Dykstra was 5-10, 160 pounds, and Canseco was listed at 6-3, 195.
http://content.usatoday.com/communi...-dykstra-jose-canseco-boxing-match-saturday/1
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Do down-and-out athletes simply have a gift for finding new ways to hit rock bottom? We ask only because Jose Canseco and Lenny Dykstra are scheduled to have a boxing match Saturday night.The bout between the two former MLB outfielders is part of Alki David's Celebrity Fight Night at the Avalon Concert Hall in Hollywood. And it immediately begs two questions.
Will it result in a no-hitter? And will there be drug testing?
Dykstra business manager Dan Herman told PhillySports.com that: "Lenny is fighting for his good name in baseball. Lenny's life for the last two years has been upside down mainly because of snitches. Canseco is one of the many rats that have diminished Dykstra's career."
That's a reference to Canseco's tell-all book about steroids in MLB, Juiced.
The fight is scheduled to stream online at FilmOn.com and promoters say it also will be available for pay-per-view via Comcast and others.
Dykstra, 48, has filed for bankruptcy and has court cases pending on charges of grand theft auto, drug possession and indecent exposure.
Canseco, 47, had a California home foreclosed on in 2008 and has said his two divorces cost him millions. In 2009, he suffered a first-round KO in an MMA fight against Choi Hong-man of South Korea.
In their primes, these two never would have fought in the same weight division. Dykstra was 5-10, 160 pounds, and Canseco was listed at 6-3, 195.
Lenny Dykstra Gets 3 Years in Calif. Prison
nails is nailed
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/dykstra-seeks-withdraw-contest-plea-15847554#.T1XUGMhzWjE
Disgraced ex-New York Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra on Monday was sentenced to three years in a California state prison after pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Ulfig sentenced Dykstra after refusing to allow him to withdraw his plea and said the scam to lease high-end automobiles from dealerships by providing fraudulent information and claiming credit through a phony business showed sophistication and extensive planning.
"He obviously didn't have the money to get the vehicles," Ulfig said. "His conduct was indeed criminal."
Dykstra, 49, has had a series of recent legal troubles and the prison sentence is part of a post-career downward spiral for the stocky slugger known as "Nails" that has included a stint at a sober living facility.
In a rambling and impassioned plea for probation, Dykstra said he has tried to make amends for his past transgressions and said he would be cleared of any wrongdoing had his motion to withdraw his plea been granted.
"I'm doing everything in my power to be a better person," he said.
Dykstra, wearing a gray suit with a blue shirt, was immediately remanded to custody as he walked into the court's back room, hands in his pockets. Dykstra has earned nearly a year's worth of credit toward his sentence for time already served.
Following the hearing, defense attorney Andrew Flier said Dykstra was singled out because he's a celebrity.
"No way this wasn't a probationary case," Flier said. "To give him state prison is outrageous. I find it disgusting."
AP
FILE - In this June 16, 2011 file photo,... View Full Caption
Dykstra initially pleaded not guilty to 25 counts after police arrested him and found cocaine, Ecstasy and synthetic human growth hormone at his Los Angeles home last April. He changed his plea in October to no contest and in exchange prosecutors dropped 21 counts.
Prosecutors said Dykstra and his accountant, Robert Hymers, 27, provided information at two dealerships from a man they claimed was a co-signer but who had not authorized his name to be used. The leases were not approved.
However, at another auto dealer, Dykstra, Hymers and Christopher Gavanis, 30, a friend of Dykstra's, were able to drive off with three cars by providing fraudulent information to the dealer. Hymers and Gavanis have entered no contest pleas as well and are awaiting sentencing.
Ulfig noted Dykstra wasn't dissuaded the first two times with the scam and "hit a home run" the third time. Those cars, Flier argued, were later returned and only depreciated in value.
In arguing for the maximum four-year sentence, Deputy District Attorney Alexander Karkanen said Dykstra has used his charm and celebrity status to get what he wants and has never been accountable for his actions.
"I'm glad Lenny Dykstra has been held responsible for his behavior," Karkanen said outside of court. "This is a first for him."
Dykstra still faces federal bankruptcy charges and is scheduled to stand trial this summer. He filed for bankruptcy a few years ago, claiming he owed more than $31 million and had only $50,000 in assets. Federal prosecutors said that after filing, Dykstra hid, sold or destroyed more than $400,000 worth of items from the $18.5 million mansion without permission of a bankruptcy trustee.
Dykstra, who spent his 12-year career with the Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, also has pleaded not guilty to indecent exposure charges for allegedly exposing himself to women he met on Craigslist.
Dykstra said he didn't deserve to be put in jail on trumped-up charges and said he wasn't able to go to the funeral of his mother who died while he was incarcerated awaiting trial. He noted that he chose to go into a drug rehab center, volunteers his time with a college baseball team and has paid nearly $20 million in taxes.
"I do have remorse for some of the things I've done," he said. "But because I wasn't a perfect person am I a criminal? Everyone wants to make me out to be a monster."
nails is nailed
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/dykstra-seeks-withdraw-contest-plea-15847554#.T1XUGMhzWjE
Disgraced ex-New York Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra on Monday was sentenced to three years in a California state prison after pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Ulfig sentenced Dykstra after refusing to allow him to withdraw his plea and said the scam to lease high-end automobiles from dealerships by providing fraudulent information and claiming credit through a phony business showed sophistication and extensive planning.
"He obviously didn't have the money to get the vehicles," Ulfig said. "His conduct was indeed criminal."
Dykstra, 49, has had a series of recent legal troubles and the prison sentence is part of a post-career downward spiral for the stocky slugger known as "Nails" that has included a stint at a sober living facility.
In a rambling and impassioned plea for probation, Dykstra said he has tried to make amends for his past transgressions and said he would be cleared of any wrongdoing had his motion to withdraw his plea been granted.
"I'm doing everything in my power to be a better person," he said.
Dykstra, wearing a gray suit with a blue shirt, was immediately remanded to custody as he walked into the court's back room, hands in his pockets. Dykstra has earned nearly a year's worth of credit toward his sentence for time already served.
Following the hearing, defense attorney Andrew Flier said Dykstra was singled out because he's a celebrity.
"No way this wasn't a probationary case," Flier said. "To give him state prison is outrageous. I find it disgusting."
AP
FILE - In this June 16, 2011 file photo,... View Full Caption
Dykstra initially pleaded not guilty to 25 counts after police arrested him and found cocaine, Ecstasy and synthetic human growth hormone at his Los Angeles home last April. He changed his plea in October to no contest and in exchange prosecutors dropped 21 counts.
Prosecutors said Dykstra and his accountant, Robert Hymers, 27, provided information at two dealerships from a man they claimed was a co-signer but who had not authorized his name to be used. The leases were not approved.
However, at another auto dealer, Dykstra, Hymers and Christopher Gavanis, 30, a friend of Dykstra's, were able to drive off with three cars by providing fraudulent information to the dealer. Hymers and Gavanis have entered no contest pleas as well and are awaiting sentencing.
Ulfig noted Dykstra wasn't dissuaded the first two times with the scam and "hit a home run" the third time. Those cars, Flier argued, were later returned and only depreciated in value.
In arguing for the maximum four-year sentence, Deputy District Attorney Alexander Karkanen said Dykstra has used his charm and celebrity status to get what he wants and has never been accountable for his actions.
"I'm glad Lenny Dykstra has been held responsible for his behavior," Karkanen said outside of court. "This is a first for him."
Dykstra still faces federal bankruptcy charges and is scheduled to stand trial this summer. He filed for bankruptcy a few years ago, claiming he owed more than $31 million and had only $50,000 in assets. Federal prosecutors said that after filing, Dykstra hid, sold or destroyed more than $400,000 worth of items from the $18.5 million mansion without permission of a bankruptcy trustee.
Dykstra, who spent his 12-year career with the Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, also has pleaded not guilty to indecent exposure charges for allegedly exposing himself to women he met on Craigslist.
Dykstra said he didn't deserve to be put in jail on trumped-up charges and said he wasn't able to go to the funeral of his mother who died while he was incarcerated awaiting trial. He noted that he chose to go into a drug rehab center, volunteers his time with a college baseball team and has paid nearly $20 million in taxes.
"I do have remorse for some of the things I've done," he said. "But because I wasn't a perfect person am I a criminal? Everyone wants to make me out to be a monster."
