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Baseball star cuts deal with SLO prosecutors

February 6, 2015
Ted Lilly

Ted Lilly

Former professional baseball pitcher Ted Lilly has agreed to a plea deal with San Luis Obispo County prosecutors that will keep him out of jail despite admitting to insurance fraud.

Lilly, a 39-year-old Edna Valley resident, pleaded guilty to a single count of misdemeanor insurance fraud, according to a district attorney’s office press release. He must now serve two years probation, pay a $2,500 and complete 250 hours of community service.

Prosecutors initially charged him with three felony counts, for which he could have served up to five years in state prison if convicted. The district attorney’s office accused Lilly of falsifying an insurance claim following a March 2014 accident in which he caused about $4,600 in damage to his RV.

Lilly allegedly purchased insurance for the approximately $200,000 RV after damaging it. He filed the claim several days later.

Progressive Insurance denied Lilly’s claim and red-flagged it as part of a larger operation. Authorities arrested about 200 other statewide as part of the operation, and arrestees included Silicon Valley executives and insurance agents, according to a California Department of Insurance spokesperson.

Lilly pleaded not guilty to the initial felony insurance fraud charges. He changed his plea Thursday in San Luis Obispo Superior Court, and his attorney read a brief written statement that Lilly wrote.

The former Major League Baseball pitcher acknowledged that he made a terrible error in judgment, according to the district attorney’s office.

Lilly retired from professional baseball in 2013 after a 15-year career that included two All-Star games and four seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He earned nearly $100 million in base salary playing baseball.


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When you have money, power, you can rape a minor (Famous Director), you can beat and shoot an innocent person in a riot (Denny), you can shoot the President of the US, and never see a day in prison.

That is how it has BEEN, that is how it IS!

The right attorneys are ready if you got the money!

Even a thug-hood like Rodney King is treated with tender protective love by an attorney (for half of a $50 Million Settlement) after his beating.

Did someone accuse the commentators here of jealousy?


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When you have laws that are enforced for a certain aspect of society and LEOs look the other way for other aspects of that same society, nothing is created but outrage and contempt for the laws themselves. Or LEOs decide which laws they enforce and when, and this is acceptable you may as well throw out a peaceful, well mannered society.


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Rich in MB – Right on! Yes, to knowingly go out and “get insurance” after the fact is totally faudulant and is against the law!!! That’s not an error! When we speed that’s not an error it’s breaking the law! And, why in the heck would a person who can afford a $200,000 RV NOT get insurance on it anyway?? Now, that’s a REAL ERROR in judgement and may be against the law as well if he’s out on public roads (not sure if the same “proof of insurance” rules apply to RV’s – but then again, you don’t have to Comphrensive if that’s what he was using).


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Many assume they have automatic coverage under their auto policy and linger on the “30 day” rule. I’d bet you lunch that’s probably what he did. Human error my friend….I just don’t see premeditated criminal intent. After the wreck it sure was but he didn’t appear to set a plan in motion to defraud.


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Yeah, when you replace a vehicle you think you’re covered under that, not when you purchase a new $250,000 vehicle. I am not buying the innocent mistake argument.


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Accept responsibility, make it right, move on.


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And learn your lesson, don’t be such a dumb @ss the next time.


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To actually “accept” responsibility would mean “manning up” and serving the jail time that anyone else who didn’t have a lot of money or a semi-famous name would have had to do. Mr. Lily’s “terrible error in judgement” was an intentional act of trying to circumvent the law, most likely him thinking that he could “get away with it” feeling entitled, somehow.


Mr. Lily’s “regret” seems to be that he got caught, period. He has the money to pay the fine, his “community service” will most likely be served doing public appearances with very little regard for the community at large. I really hope that I am wrong; I’d like to believe that most people will do the right thing, even when no one is looking, but I still get the nagging feeling that Mr. Lily still feels somewhat entitled to do what he wants because he feels that he somehow “better” than us average Joes since he was, at one time, paid a lot of money.


I really don’t envy Ted Lily or his money; he had talent, he worked hard to get to his professional station; it is the behavior he exhibited with all that money that is distasteful. I have to wonder if he is really “happy” in his daily life if he feels that he needs to cheat on something like he was caught doing.


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Can’t wait to read the comments of the anti-success crowd.


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“Anti-success” you mean in getting away with a Crime?

Strange way to phrase it…but maybe I’m not understanding your comment correctly.


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Mediocre people tend to resent successful people for being successful because they think they have somehow been cheated out of the success that should be theirs. They call themselves the 99% and post quotes such as these:


“Typical for an athlete who is too arrogant for his own good.”


“Expect nothing else from a 1%’er (with RARE exception ).”


“Another case of a OnePercenter® thinking they could do no wrong, they would not get caught, that they are “entitled” to anything their heart desires. “


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Sorry but if he were black and poor he’d be going to prison


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Wouldn’t matter what color he was,

if he were poor he wouldn’t have a $250,000 RV to wreck.


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For murder maybe, but not for insurance fraud.


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You have been fed a generalization that is not nearly as widely applicable as you think. Yes, some people are simply jealous of success and hate/distrust those who are financially “successful” no matter how they got their money.


However, a LOT of people (myself included) hate/distrust only those wealthy people who got their money by cheating others, putting others’ health at risk, or using their wealth to rig the political system in their favor (buying subsidies, tax breaks, etc. from legislatures.) It may not be fair to those who actually did something constructive to earn their billions (Gates, Jobs) but the corporate villains and socialists seem to be a large element in “the 1%.”


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Is the entire ridiculous 99% movement a generalization?


Isn’t any bumper sticker slogan that a politician sells to the fools who vote for them a generalization meant to divide Americans and make unintelligent people believe that a politician is the answer to their prayers?


How does one know who to direct their jealousy and hatred at if you don’t just hate people for being successful as instructed by Hussein Obama? Wouldn’t you wait until someone is arrested and convicted.


If only the corrupt rich are to be reviled, then the 1% ears need to be renamed the one one hundreths of one percent and include politicians.


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In this case I think “Famous” may mean more than “Success”, maybe the prosecuter and the judge are fans?


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Isn’t it interesting how a lie is now called as Lilly says “A Terrible Error In Judgement”?

No, an error is something you do accidentally….Insurance Fraud is something you Plan knowingly….it’s no error! But hey…if he was a poor minority kid caught selling drugs he would be treated the same by the County Prosecutors Right? No….wow….who would have guessed! A little White Privileged going on maybe?


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Rich, calling “white privilege” is an insult. Race is not involved. Major sports figures get deals cut all the time due to their prestige and costly lawyers. Maybe you don’t own a television, but deals and easy outs for other wealthy sports figures who just happen to be of different skin colors happen all the time. This was just another of those predictable deals after prosecutorial over-charge.


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Haven’t owned a Television in over 15yrs….it’s called a BoobTube for a reason Lame.

I may not have a TV, but you also don’t have a sense of sarcasm, so it appears we are even in missing something…I’ll give up my TV….but you should read up on Sarcasm and the approach of using the lefts arguments against them to highlight their insanity!


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In defense of LC, I wouldn’t have guessed you comment to be sarcasm if I hadn’t formed an impression of your political orientation from previous posts. On the internet, you need to make sarcasm very clear if you want people to pick up on it.


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