Blue Jays: Octavio Dotel may not be in much trouble after all

After it looked like former Blue Jay Octavio Dotel was potentially facing some serious jail time, he may not be in as much trouble as originally reported.

A little over a week ago I wrote a short news hit that didn’t bring me any pleasure. That’s because it was about former Blue Jay Octavio Dotel being implicated in a serious drug trafficking and money laundering scheme.

The original story was that both Dotel and fellow former big leaguer Luis Castillo were being implicated in the operation, but it sounds like the situation has improved a great deal for them since then.

Local authorities in the Dominican Republic have cleared both Castillo and Dotel of charges of money laundering, according to an article from ESPN yesterday. It also mentioned that Castillo brought forth a case that was enough to get his arrest warrant suspended, as he sought to prove that he was not involved in the operation. Fortunately, it sounds like his efforts were successful, and both of the former big leaguers look like they’re out of the hot water.

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As for Dotel, he was out on bail as of Thursday, but will still have to answer for the possession of illegal weapons he was found with when he was arrested. It’s unclear how serious that situation could end up being, but still, it’ll be a far cry from potential charges linking him to a drug trafficking and money laundering scheme.

It sounds like Dotel will eventually provide the proper documentation to the court, according to his lawyer, Manuel Sierra quoted with the New York Post. Sierra also went on to say that his client should have an apology coming his way. It’s possible that something like that could work in Dotel’s favour when it comes to a potential illegal weapons charge, but I’m not going to claim to be an expert on the law in the Dominican Republic.

“The authorities owe a public explanation to Octavio Dotel. The judge found that my client has nothing to do with the charges imputed to him by the public prosecutor.”

It was reported that Dotel may have paid up to one million dollars in bail, and after the court’s decision, it sounds like he’ll be a free man.

I’m sure the entire ordeal has been very taxing on Dotel and his family, but thankfully it looks like he’ll end up with a happy ending in what could have been an awful situation.