Federal prosecutors are requesting that former Dodgers star Yasiel Puig serve prison time for obstructing justice and lying to federal authorities. His defense team plans to ask for probation.

In a brief filed with the Central District of California, prosecutors are requesting that Puig serve 18 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. They also requested that he pay $55,200 in fines.

“A low-end Guidelines range sentence avoids unwarranted sentencing disparities and sends a message that the cost of deliberating lying to federal investigators and obstructing justice is not insignificant and will result in a non-trivial sentence,” prosecutors wrote in the brief.

A jury convicted Puig on Feb. 6 on the two counts, which carry a maximum of 15 years in prison. Prosecutors immediately asked that Puig be remanded into custody, saying he was a “flight risk.” The judge did not agree, and Puig has been free since his conviction. He recently started playing with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Canadian Baseball League.

Puig will be sentenced May 26 in Los Angeles.

Puig’s attorney, Keri Curtis Axel, told The Athletic that the defense did not think prison time was appropriate. “Yasiel Puig is a first-time offender who has already been punished through years of prosecution, reputational damage, financial consequences, and the effective destruction of his professional life,” she wrote via text. “A prison sentence is not proportional to the conduct and would not accomplish any rehabilitative purpose here. The Court has complete discretion over the sentence, and the defense will request a sentence of probation.”

Prosecutors cited Puig’s “lack of remorse” as a basis for their sentencing request.

Puig was convicted following a 12-day trial. The accusations stemmed from a 2022 informal and unrecorded interview he conducted with investigators, related to an illegal sports betting operation run by bookmaker Wayne Nix. Puig was not under investigation and was being questioned as a witness.

Prosecutors alleged he lied during the meeting. Puig told investigators that he only knew the intermediary he bet with, Donny Kadokawa, through baseball, and not sports betting. At trial, prosecutors played surreptitiously recorded audio of Puig saying he didn’t cooperate with investigators.

Puig’s defense argued that he cooperated fully, but that the government wasn’t interested in his answers. His attorneys also argued that he didn’t fully understand what the investigators were asking, and that the language barrier and cognitive issues could have contributed to his confusion.