Baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz Allegedly Targeted for Death in 2019 Shooting by Dominican Drug Kingpin

In 2019, former Boston Red Sox baseball legend David Ortiz was shot in a Dominican nightclub. Based on private investigators hired by the home run hitter, a hit was put on him by a Dominican drug trafficker who was jealous of the slugger.

According to ESPN, Ortiz was shot at the nightclub because the drug dealer, César Peralta, felt disrespected by him. That conclusion was disclosed by former Boston police commissioner Edward Davis and reported by The Boston Globe over the weekend. That finding contradicts the theory of the crime developed by Dominican prosecutors.

Davis expressed to The Boston Globe that he identified the drug-trafficker as having planned the shooting by placing a bounty on Ortiz.

That contradicts what Peralta’s attorney, Joaquin Perez, has stated because he says that he had nothing to do with the attempt on Ortiz’s life.

“As bad as César Peralta is, it’s not even close to being in the ballpark to say he had something to do with this,” Perez said.

Peralta is currently in Puerto Rico, being held without bail on conspiracy charges to import cocaine and heroin. Peralta has not been charged in connection to the Ortiz shooting.

Perez conveyed Ortiz and Peralta as “close friends.” But Ortiz told The Boston Globe he only knew Peralta casually. Ortiz also added that he was “sad, confused, angry, all kinds of emotions” when he got the news about the investigation results from Davis and Ric Prado, a former high-ranking CIA official.

A representative for Ortiz, Joe Baerlein, said that Davis’ discoveries were withheld for the safety of the Hall of Fame baseball player until Peralta was in U.S. custody.

Dominican authorities claim that the target in the shooting incident was meant to be Sixto David Fernandez, who happened to be sharing a table with Ortiz at the time he was shot. They have said the shooters confused Fernandez with Ortiz, one of the most popular Dominican ballplayers ever.

There have been 13 people charged in connection to the shooting of Ortiz, and they are awaiting trial in the Dominican Republic.