Shooter Who Attempted To Murder David Ortiz Sentenced

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A Dominican court has convicted 10 of the 13 people accused in connection to the 2019 attempted murder of Baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz, ESPN reports.

Rolfi Ferreya Cruz, the accused shooter, and Eddy Vladimir Feliz Garcia were both sentenced to 30 years each in prison, the longest sentences among the 13 defendants involved in the case, a verdict from the First Collegiate Court of Santo Domingo confirmed.

Eight others received sentences varying from 5 to 20 years in prison, according to the court.

Victor Hugo Gomez Vasquez, who was alleged to be the mastermind behind the attack, was among the three defendants acquitted due to insufficient evidence, the court stated.

Authorities said the planned attack was meant to target Sixto David Fernandez, who was sharing a table at a bar with Ortiz at the time of the shooting and reported to be confused with the Boston Red Sox legend by the hitmen.

Ortiz was hospitalized for six weeks and underwent two surgeries in relation to the shooting.

The 47-year-old was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in July.

The longtime designated hitter was the only player elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the 2022 class with 77.9% approval from the Baseball Writers' Association of America vote, surpassing the 75% needed for induction.

Ortiz, who was eligible for induction for the first time this year, played in the majors for 20 seasons, which included 14 in Boston, playing a key role on three of the franchise's World Series teams, including the 2004 World Series, snapping the franchise's 86-year championship drought.

The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native finished his MLB career with a .286 batting average, 541 home runs and 1,768 RBI.

Ortiz began the fourth Dominican native to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, joining Juan Marichal (1983), former Red Sox teammate Pedro Martínez (2015) and Vladimir Guerrero (2018) upon induction.


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