Report: Hanley Ramirez Is NOT Under Federal Investigation, Hanley's Friend Attempted To Use His Name To Avoid Being Arrested

On Friday night, Michele McPhee, an investigative journalist for ABC News, reported that Hanley Ramirez was under state and federal investigation for his involvement in a fentanyl drug ring. Here’s what she said on WAAF on Friday night:

I had written on Friday night that a number of Boston media members knew about the rumors, us included, but nobody wanted to touch the story. Why? Because it would’ve been wildly irresponsible to report rumors without confirming anything. Baseball writers don’t exactly have sources within the legal department, so the rumors just sat out there for a month, while we waited for this all to come to a head. That, and sometimes rumors are just that — rumors. Here’s the latest report from the Boston Globe:

A friend of former Red Sox first baseman Hanley Ramirez dropped his name in an effort to avoid arrest while transporting fentanyl from New York to Massachusetts in April, then immediately admitted the player had no connection to the drugs, according to documents filed in US District Court in Boston.

Ramirez is not under federal investigation and has not been linked to any drug ring, according to several people with direct knowledge of the case. The 34-year-old has been a free agent since the Red Sox released him on June 1.

An attorney, who represents the man arrested with the drugs and spoke on the condition that his client not be named because of concerns about his safety, said his client grew up in the Dominican Republic with Ramirez and used his name “to get the cops off his back, which didn’t work.”

The man was stopped by State Police in western Massachusetts in April after a confidential informant tipped the Drug Enforcement Administration that he would be delivering two kilograms of cocaine to Massachusetts, according to a DEA affidavit filed in court.

The man told the trooper “that he was traveling to Boston to see a friend who is a professional baseball player,” the affidavit says. The document doesn’t identify the player by name, but multiple people, including the man’s attorney, said he was referring to Ramirez.

The man consented to a search of his Jeep, but when the trooper asked to open a brown cardboard box found in the rear cargo area, the man declined, saying it belonged to Ramirez.

The man claimed that the box contained books, and that Ramirez’s mother “had shipped the box to him in New York to hand-deliver to his friend [Ramirez] in Boston,” according to the affidavit.

In an attempt to back up his story, the man called Ramirez via FaceTime on his cell phone, then handed it to the trooper. The trooper asked Ramirez if he was aware that his friend was en route to visit him and was delivering a box from his mother. Ramirez said he “was not aware,” according to the affidavit. The trooper asked if he could open the box and Ramirez agreed.

The box contained a gift bag, with two kilograms of fentanyl inside, the affidavit says.

The man was arrested on drug trafficking charges and “immediately began stating that his friend [Ramirez] was not involved at all, and that the box wasn’t for him,” the affidavit says.

The man’s attorney, who asked that he not be named because of concerns it would help identify his client, said “his use of Mr. Ramirez’s name was an ill-thought-out attempt to evade further police scrutiny.”

The attorney said at the time his client dropped the baseball player’s name “he is hoping he’s not going to be arrested; he’s trying to avoid them from searching the vehicle and the box.”

Well, this would make a lot of sense. And to be honest, I believe this story. It still incorporates the gist of what the rumors were, while also offering a very logical explanation for how it actually went down. What I don’t believe is the Red Sox’s claim that they didn’t know about the rumors. I believe that the players didn’t know about it, and I believe that Alex Cora didn’t know about it. However, I don’t believe that nobody within the organization knew about it. Some of the people upstairs had to have known. If nobody knew about it, then that would be QUITE the coincidence. Hanley Ramirez was designated for assignment on May 25.

This tweet was a response to my blog about Hanley Ramirez being designated for assignment on May 25. Same day:

Like I said, that would be one hell of a coincidence. Somebody knew, if not several people. As it turns out, Hanley Ramirez is not actually a drug kingpin. While that would’ve been a story for the ages, it’s simply untrue. Does Hanley associate himself with sketchy people? Apparently that much is true, if this guy was his “friend”. But he’s not being investigated for any involvement in a fentanyl drug ring. As you were.