D’Acquisto Gets More Prison Time for Fraud

Former major league pitcher John D’Acquisto was sentenced Thursday by a federal judge in San Diego to an additional 55 months in federal prison for his guilty plea in a $7-million investment fraud.

D’Acquisto, 46, admitted using $1.3 million in investor funds to buy racehorses, luxury cars, property and a part interest in a Mexican baseball team. He has been in prison since 1996 for a related conviction in New York in which he admitted selling counterfeit securities.

Prosecutors alleged that D’Acquisto promised his victims they could earn 5% to 7% interest per week by making short-term investments in a kind of mutual fund. Instead, the investments were phony, prosecutors said.

D’Acquisto played for the Giants, Padres, Expos, Angels and A’s from 1973 to ’82 and had a 34-51 record.

In seeking mercy from Federal Judge Judith Keep, D’Acquisto spoke of the emotional difficulty caused by the end of his baseball career and how his convictions have devastated his family. Keep could have sentenced D’Acquisto to 61 months.