A former Chicago White Sox executive pleaded guilty Friday to pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from impoverished Latin American prospects hoping to make it in Major League Baseball.
David Wilder, who rose to be the Sox’s senior director of player personnel, made $402,000 during the scheme that lasted from 2004 to 2008, while two former Sox scouts who were also charged took additional kickbacks, court records revealed.
According to Wilder’s plea agreement, the scheme started in late 2004 when scout Jorge Oquendo Rivera told Wilder he would receive a $60,000 kickback from the owner of a Mexican baseball team if he agreed to sign three of its players.
“I understand what I have done,” said Wilder, 50, as he pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud in federal court in Chicago.
To generate the kickbacks, Wilder said he, Oquendo and Sox scout Victor Mateo misrepresented the amount of money needed to sign nearly two dozen prospects. As a result, the White Sox paid signing bonuses and bought the rights to players from other teams at inflated prices.
Under federal sentencing guidelines, Wilder faces up to 4 years in prison, but if he continues to cooperate with investigators, prosecutors agreed to recommend that he be sentenced to 2 years, according to his attorney, Thomas Bienert Jr.
U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle didn’t set a sentencing date for Wilder, who was released on bail.
Mateo, who is being sought, and Oquendo still face fraud charges.
In a statement Friday, White Sox officials said they welcomed the plea but were “saddened by the betrayal of trust, the involvement of innocent players, the abuse of the system, and the impact his criminal actions inflicted on this organization.”
Bienert said Wilder, a former minor league player, hopes to work again in baseball.
Baseball sources had told the Tribune that the federal probe intensified in 2008 after Wilder was stopped at an airport leaving the Dominican Republic with $30,000 to $40,000. Wilder told customs officials that the money was gambling winnings from local casinos, according to the sources.
Wilder, who had been a close friend and trusted adviser to Sox general manager Ken Williams, was fired in 2008 amid the federal probe. He and the two former scouts were indicted in November.
Federal authorities said the kickback scheme was hidden from the Sox and its “more senior officials.”
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