The trial of two major league baseball pitchers accused of rigging pitches in a betting scheme begins Monday with jury selection in federal court in New York.
Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase de la Cruz and Luis Leandro Ortiz Ribera are charged with conspiracy to commit wire and honest services fraud, sports bribery and money laundering.
Co-defendants Robinson Vásquez Germosen and Luis Arismendy Paca Méndez are accused of sharing inside information from Clase, 28, with other bettors and using that information to wager on what federal prosecutors say were predetermined pitches.
Paca Méndez, who prosecutors allege lived with Clase at his house in Ohio during part of the scheme, will not take part in the trial in Brooklyn after being extradited from the Dominican Republic to the U.