Former Red Sox first baseman Hanley Ramirez is not under federal investigation in connection to a large drug trafficking conspiracy, according to the Boston Globe.
Documents filed in U.S. District Court in Boston say the man whom police caught with 435 grams of fentanyl and a large amount of crack cocaine told officers that a box containing the drugs belonged to Ramirez, a friend of his. He later admitted that the box didn’t belong to Ramirez and he had no involvement in the crimes.
“Several people” with knowledge of the case told the Globe that Ramirez has not been linked to any drug ring. According to an attorney who represents the man who got arrested, he dropped Ramirez’s name “to get the cops off his back, which didn’t work.” According to the court documents, the man handed his phone to police to speak to Ramirez, who told them via FaceTime that he wasn’t aware of any packages being delivered to him.
Investigative reporter Michele McPhee previously reported on Friday that Ramirez was being “eyed” in connection with a federal and state investigation into a fentanyl ring based in Lawrence, Mass. She described the events of the arrest, during which the man made a “FaceTime” phone call with Ramirez during the stop, in an interview on The Baseball Reporters. It’s unclear whether Ramirez was being investigated at a previous time, but the court documents indicate that his friend immediately denied his involvement.
Ramirez has been a free agent since the Red Sox released him on June 1.
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