SAN JUAN DE LA MAGUANA, Dominican Republic — Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco who awaiting trial in a sexual abuse case, he received supervised release on Wednesday after he was arrested and charged for illegally carrying a weapon in his vehicle during an altercation in a parking lot in the Dominican Republic.

Dominican judge Viamerca Ruiz said Franco must appear in court once a month as he is investigated for carrying the firearm that was registered in his uncle’s name.

Franco, 23, was arrested on Sunday after an argument broke out in a parking lot at the San Juan de la Maguana apartment complex. Another man and a woman were also detained in the confrontation. Two firearms were seized, police said.

“The gun is licensed. … so there is nothing illegal about it,” said Antonio Garcia Lorenzo, one of Franco’s lawyers. “We simply ask for his release. They’ve already investigated the gun and it’s not his, it’s the owner’s.”

The lawyer also said that Franco was in San Juan de la Maguana “just to visit him”.

A conviction for illegal possession of a firearm could carry a prison sentence of three to five years.

Franco is scheduled to go on trial on December 12 in the northern province of Puerto Plata in a sexual abuse case involving a 14-year-old girl. He was also charged with sexual and commercial exploitation of a minor and human trafficking.

Franco was released on parole on January 5, four days after his arrest on the abuse charges.

Franco, who declined to speak to the media, said of the sexual abuse case: “Everything is in God’s hands.”

Franco was in his third major league season when his career was halted in August 2023. He agreed to a 11-year contract, $182 million in November 2021.

Tampa Bay placed him on the restricted list on July 10, waiving the pay he was receiving while on administrative leave.

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