Crime & Safety

Former Baseball Star Lenny Dykstra Pleads No Contest to Grand Theft Auto Charges

He also pleaded no contest to filing a false financial statement, according to the City News Service.

Former Major League Baseball player Lenny Dykstra pleaded no contest Wednesday to grand theft auto charges and filing a false financial statement, admitting the loss was more than $100,000, the District Attorney's Office announced, according to the City News Service.

Dykstra, 48, faces up to four years in state prison, according to Deputy District Attorney Alex Karkanen of the Auto Insurance Fraud Division. He entered his plea to three counts of grand theft auto and one count of filing a false financial statement before Judge Cynthia Ulfig, who released him pending sentencing on Jan. 20.

The case dates back to January, when Dykstra and two co-defendants tried to lease various high-end automobiles from several area dealerships by providing bogus information and claiming credit through a phony business called Home Free Systems, Karkanen said.

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At two dealerships, Dykstra and his former accountant, 27-year-old Robert Hymers, provided information from a man they claimed was a co-signer but who had not authorized his name to be used. The leases were not approved, Karkanen said. However, at a San Fernando Valley auto dealer, Dykstra, Hymers and a third defendant, Christopher Gavanis, 30, were able to drive off with three cars by providing fraudulent information to the dealer, the prosecutor said.

When Los Angeles police detectives investigating the case executed a search warrant at Dykstra's Encino home on April 14, the day he was arrested, they allegedly found cocaine and Ecstasy along with Somatropin, a synthetic human growth hormone. The former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies outfielder was charged with five counts of attempted grand theft auto, eight counts of filing false financial statements, four counts of identity theft and three counts each of grand theft auto and possession of a controlled substance–all felonies.

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In addition, he was charged with one misdemeanor count each of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and unauthorized possession of a syringe.

In exchange for his plea, the remaining charges will be dismissed at sentencing. If Dykstra fails to appear for sentencing, he faces up to six years in state prison, Karkanen said.

In September, Hymers pleaded no contest to one felony count of identity theft and Gavanis pleaded no contest to one felony count of filing a false financial statement. Their sentencing was put over for a year.

Dykstra is also facing federal bankruptcy charges stemming from the alleged sale of property from his $18 million Ventura County mansion, along with misdemeanor indecent exposure charges filed by the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office. That case involves allegations that he exposed himself to women who responded to online advertisements for a personal assistant or housekeeper.

For Patch coverage of the case, follow the links below.

–City News Service


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