President Trump has pardoned former New York Mets star Darryl Strawberry of his tax evasion and drug charges, citing his newfound faith and sobriety.
“Mr. Strawberry served time and paid back taxes after pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion,” a White House official said. “Following his career, Mr. Strawberry found faith in Christianity and has been sober for over a decade — he has become active in ministry and started a recovery center which still operates today.”
Mr. Strawberry, 63, thanked the president in a social media post.
“Thank you, President @realdonaldtrump for my full pardon and for finalizing this part of my life, allowing me to be truly free and clean from all of my past,” he wrote, adding that he found out on Thursday.
“I was home caring for my wife as she recovered from surgery, when my phone kept ringing relentlessly. Half asleep, I glanced over and saw a call from Washington DC. Curious, I answered, and to my amazement, the lady on the line said, ’Darryl Strawberry, you have a call from the President of the United States, Donald Trump,’” he wrote on Instagram.
“President Trump spoke warmly about my baseball days in NYC, praising me as one [of] the greatest player[s] of the ’80s and celebrating the Mets. Then, he told me he was granting me a full pardon from my past. My wife captured the moment on video, and I was overwhelmed with gratitude—thanking God for setting me free from my past, helping me become a better Man, Husband and Father,” Mr. Strawberry wrote.
Mr. Strawberry was a power-hitting star during his Mets’ heyday. He played on the team from 1983 to 1990. He was an outfielder and played a key role in the team’s 1986 World Series win. He was an eight-time All-Star.
He played 17 seasons of Major League Baseball, starting his career with the Mets before going on to join the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees.
He said the pardon “has nothing to do with politics — it’s about a Man, President Trump, caring deeply for a friend.”
His career was plagued by addiction and health and personal issues. He was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1998 and underwent chemotherapy and surgery. Last year, he had a heart attack.
He was indicted for tax evasion and pleaded guilty in 1995 to a felony count over his failure to report $350,000 in income he earned from autographs, memorabilia and personal appearances. He agreed to pay more than $430,000 as part of the case.
A year later, he was sentenced to probation and suspended from the sport after he pleaded no contest to charges of possession of cocaine and soliciting a prostitute. He was charged with violating his probation multiple times.
He served 11 months in Florida state prison and was released in 2003.
• Jeff Mordock contributed to this story, which is based in part on wire service reports.
