Sep 13, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; Former New York Mets outfielder Darryl Strawberry during the Mets Alumni Game at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

President Donald Trump pardoned eight-time former MLB All-Star Darryl Strawberry for his past tax evasion and drug charges. A White House official confirmed the president's decision, CNN reported Friday.

Strawberry, who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball primarily with the New York Mets but also with the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees, pled guilty to one count of tax evasion in 1995. That indictment stemmed from his failure to report $350,000 in income from autographs, appearances and memorabilia sales, and he agreed to pay $430,000 as a result of the case.

He was later sentenced to probation and suspended from baseball in 1999 after he was arrested for possession of cocaine and soliciting a prostitute. After several instances of violating his probation, he was ultimately sentenced to 18 months in prison in Florida, of which he served 11.

According to a report from the Associated Press, an anonymous White House official stated that Strawberry's pardon was in part because he has paid back taxes and has a decade-plus of sobriety under his belt. The official also mentioned that he has become active in ministry.

A White House official said Friday that Trump approved a pardon for Strawberry, who had served time and paid back taxes. Speaking on condition of anonymity to detail a pardon that had not yet been formally announced, the official noted that Strawberry found faith in Christianity and has been sober for more than a decade, and that he’d become active in ministry and started a still-active recovery center.

While the CNN report only mentions that Strawberry was pardoned on the tax evasion charge, the AP reported that his drug charge had also been pardoned.

In a post on Instagram, Strawberry offered his gratitude.

"Thank you, President [Trump] for my full pardon and for finalizing this part of my life, allowing me to be truly free and clean from all of my past," Strawberry wrote in the post.

Strawberry has a prior relationship with the president as he was a contestant on the third season of Celebrity Apprentice, which aired in 2010.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Why did Donald Trump pardon former MLB star Darryl Strawberry?

Reporting by Tyler Nettuno, For The Win / For The Win

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