Dominican court orders new trial for Tampa Bay Rays’ Wander Franco in sexual abuse case

SANTO DOMINGO Dominican Republic AP An appeals court in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday ordered a new trial for Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco who was convicted earlier this year of sexually abusing a minor and had received a two-year suspended sentence Tuesday s ruling comes after Franco s attorneys had pushed to have his conviction suspended and sentencing overturned while prosecutors had been seeking a five-year sentence The appeals court ruled in favor of Franco ordering that new judges oversee the occurrence Franco was arrested last year after being accused of having a four-month relationship with a girl who was at the time and of transferring thousands of dollars to her mother to consent to the illegal relationship