Lenny Kyle Dykstra, the Garden Grove phenom who went on to an All-Star Major League Baseball career with the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets, has copped in federal court to being a thief, a fence and a fraud.
Coupled with a previous conviction for being a perv, that makes “Nails” the ultimate utility player.
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The 48-year-old, who CNBC's Jim Cramer used to hail as a financial guru, pleaded guilty to
three felonies–bankruptcy fraud, concealment of assets and money
laundering–that could have him captaining the federal prison yard baseball team for up to 20 years.
He admitted in federal court in Los Angeles to filing for bankruptcy on
July 7, 2009, and then lying about later removing and selling items and memorabilia from a Sherwood Estates mansion he bought for $18 million from Wayne and Janet Gretzky, goods that had been listed among Dykstra's bankruptcy assets.
Dykstra also admitted laundering $15,000 earned from the sale of those items by purchasing a cashier's check
in another person's name, and of ripping off at least 10 creditors of between $200,000 and
$400,000.
“Mr. Dykstra's days of playing games with the public and the legal
system are over,” says André Birotte Jr.,
head of the U.S. Attorney's office in LA that prosecuted the case, in a statement.
“With these federal convictions, Mr. Dykstra's fraud and
deceit have been exposed for all to see,” Birotte continues. “These convictions should serve as a
cautionary tale of a high-flying sports celebrity who tried to
manipulate and exploit both his creditors and the bankruptcy laws of the
United States.”
Lenny Dykstra's Spectacular Fall Continues
Adds the FBI's Timothy
Delaney, the acting assistant director in charge of the LA office that investigated the case, in the same statement: “At one
time, Mr. Dykstra inspired Americans, but later, sadly, he chose to
defraud his fellow Americans and the United States government. His
acknowledgement of these crimes may prevent others from engaging in
similar activity.”
The Smoking Gun Posts Lenny Dykstra's Bankruptcy Filing
United States District Court Judge Dean D.
Pregerson is scheduled to sentence Dykstra on Dec. 3. Meanwhile, the former ballplayer's bankruptcy case is still pending in the federal Bankruptcy Court in Woodland Hills.
Lenny Dykstra, Former MLB Star, Allegedly Hired Maids Off Craigslist He'd Then Show His Big Stick
Dykstra is already in LA County custody for showing his dick to maids who'd responded to craigslist ads for housecleaners.
Lenny Dykstra, Baseball Star-Turned Money Whiz Out of Garden Grove, Gets 3 Years
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.