Clase entering federal custody comes days after Cleveland teammate Luis Ortiz was arrested. Both pitchers were indicted by federal authorities and are facing up to 65 years in prison for a series of charges that include wire fraud conspiracy and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, among others.
The alleged scheme involves Ortiz and Clase purposefully throwing balls in certain situations in order to win bettors fraudulent bets.
On Wednesday, Ortiz pleaded not guilty to charges that he took bribes to help gamblers. He was released on $500,000 bond and was issued GPS monitoring.
A day after the pair was indicted, MLB announced that it has reached an agreement with prominent U.S. sportsbooks to place a limit on baseball wagering centered on prop bets. The betting limit will now be limited to $200 on wagers focused on individual pitches and exclude them from parlays in hopes of decreasing the incentives of MLB players to be involved in illegal gambling.
