Darryl Strawberry

Darryl Eugene Strawberry
Born:	March 12, 1962 Los Angeles, California
Charges:	Tax evasion (federal); cocaine possession, solicitation (state, Florida)
Sentence:	6 months home confinement, 3 years probation (1995 tax case); 18 months state prison (2002 probation violation)
Facility:
Status:	Pardoned

Darryl Eugene Strawberry (born March 12, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player. He played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball as a right fielder, mostly for the New York Mets and New York Yankees. He was an eight-time All-Star, the 1983 National League Rookie of the Year, and a member of four World Series championship teams. He hit 335 home runs across his career.

Strawberry's legal record has two distinct parts. In February 1995 he pleaded guilty in federal court in White Plains, New York, to one count of tax evasion. He had failed to report most of the income he earned from autograph signings and baseball card shows between 1986 and 1990. Judge Barrington D. Parker Jr. sentenced him to six months of home confinement, three years of probation, and $350,000 in restitution. Years of cocaine addiction followed. A 1999 arrest in Tampa, Florida, for cocaine possession and solicitation led to probation. He violated that probation repeatedly. In 2002 a Florida judge sent him to state prison for 18 months. He served 11 months in Gainesville and was released on April 8, 2003.

He has been sober since 2007 and works in Christian recovery ministry. On November 7, 2025, President Donald Trump pardoned him for the 1995 federal tax conviction.

Baseball Career

The Mets drafted Strawberry first overall in 1980 out of Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles. He debuted on May 6, 1983, at age 21. He hit 26 home runs that season and won National League Rookie of the Year.

He spent eight seasons with the Mets. In 1986 he was part of the team that beat the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. In 1987 he hit 39 home runs and stole 36 bases, putting him in the 30-30 club. He led the National League in home runs in 1988, again with 39. His 252 home runs as a Met stood as the franchise record until Pete Alonso passed it in 2025.

Strawberry signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent after the 1990 season. Injuries and personal problems cut into his playing time there. He joined the San Francisco Giants in 1994. That year Major League Baseball suspended him 60 days after he tested positive for cocaine, and the Giants released him.

The Yankees signed him in 1995. He played a part-time role and produced in spots. In the 1996 American League Championship Series against Baltimore he batted .417 with three home runs. The Yankees won the World Series that fall. In 1998 he hit 24 home runs in 100 games. Doctors diagnosed him with colon cancer that October, and he had surgery before the World Series. He returned in 1999 and the Yankees won a third title in four years. The cancer came back in 2000. His playing career ended there. He finished with 335 home runs, 1,000 RBIs, and a .259 batting average across 17 seasons.

Legal Troubles

Federal Tax Evasion (1994-1995)

A federal grand jury indicted Strawberry on tax evasion charges in 1994. Prosecutors said he earned about $422,250 from autograph signings, card shows, and personal appearances between 1986 and 1990 but reported only $59,685 of it on his tax returns.

He pleaded guilty to one count on February 9, 1995. The plea covered tax years 1989 and 1990. On April 24, 1995, U.S. District Judge Barrington D. Parker Jr. sentenced him in White Plains, New York. The sentence was six months of home confinement, three years of probation, and 100 hours of community service. The court ordered $350,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. The conviction stayed on his record for 30 years, until the November 2025 pardon.

Cocaine and Solicitation Arrests (1999-2002)

On April 3, 1999, police in Tampa, Florida, arrested Strawberry. He had solicited sex from an undercover officer and was carrying a small amount of cocaine. Major League Baseball suspended him 140 days on April 24. In May he pleaded no contest and received 21 months of probation plus community service. The court also imposed a 22-month prison term and suspended it on the condition that he complete drug treatment and follow probation rules.

He did not complete the conditions. On September 11, 2000, he took painkillers, blacked out behind the wheel, rear-ended another car, and tried to leave before an off-duty officer stopped him at gunpoint. On October 25, 2000, he left a Tampa treatment center to use drugs, which violated his house arrest. A judge gave him 40 days in jail with credit for time served. In April 2001 he again disappeared from court-ordered treatment. By the time the matter reached its final hearing, prosecutors counted six separate probation violations.

Incarceration

On April 29, 2002, a Florida circuit judge sentenced Strawberry to 18 months in state prison for the probation violations. The court had jailed him the previous month, on March 12, 2002, after he broke rules at the Ocala drug treatment center where he was assigned.

Strawberry served his time at a state facility near Gainesville, Florida. He was released on April 8, 2003. He served 11 months of the 18-month term. Florida law required him to serve 85 percent of the sentence, and he received credit for jail time already served while awaiting the ruling. Department of Corrections officials described him as a model inmate.

In September 2005 prosecutors charged Strawberry with filing a false police report. He had reported his SUV stolen and later admitted the report was false. The offense was a misdemeanor and he was not jailed for it.

Life After

Strawberry left prison in 2003 and turned to Christian faith and addiction recovery. He has said he has been sober since 2007. He became an ordained minister. He and his wife Tracy married in 2006 and built their public work around recovery.

The couple founded Strawberry Ministries. The organization works with people in addiction, troubled teenagers, and families in crisis, and frames its work around Christian faith. In St. Cloud, Florida, Strawberry opened the Darryl Strawberry Recovery Center in partnership with Oglethorpe Healthcare Inc. The center pairs detox and long-term sobriety programs with faith-based counseling. The Strawberrys later started a recovery program at an Oglethorpe behavioral hospital in Longview, Texas.

Darryl and Tracy Strawberry both hold roles with Liberty University's Global Center for Mental Health, Addiction, and Recovery. The Mets inducted Strawberry into their team Hall of Fame in 2010.

Presidential Pardon (2025)

President Donald Trump pardoned Strawberry on November 7, 2025. The pardon covered the 1995 federal tax evasion conviction. A White House official said Strawberry "served time and paid back taxes after pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion" and noted that he "found faith in Christianity and has been sober for over a decade."

Trump called Strawberry to tell him about the pardon. Strawberry later recounted the call: "You know you did some very bad things. But he said, 'Today, the way your life is and what you're doing, your faith and helping people and being sober, I'm giving you a full pardon.'" Strawberry thanked Trump on Instagram and again on November 23, 2025, during a sermon at a church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was the second alumnus of Trump's television show The Celebrity Apprentice to receive a pardon. He had appeared on the show in 2010.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What did Darryl Strawberry do?

Strawberry pleaded guilty to one federal count of tax evasion in February 1995. He had reported only $59,685 of about $422,250 he earned from autograph signings and baseball card shows between 1986 and 1990. He received six months of home confinement, three years of probation, and $350,000 in restitution. He was later arrested in Florida in 1999 for cocaine possession and solicitation, and he served prison time in 2002 and 2003 for violating his probation.

Q: Did Darryl Strawberry go to prison?

Yes, but not for the tax case. The 1995 tax sentence was home confinement and probation, with no prison time. Strawberry went to state prison in Florida in 2002 after repeated violations of the probation tied to his 1999 cocaine and solicitation arrest. A judge sentenced him to 18 months. He served 11 months at a facility near Gainesville and was released on April 8, 2003.

Q: How long was Darryl Strawberry's tax sentence?

On April 24, 1995, Judge Barrington D. Parker Jr. sentenced Strawberry to six months of home confinement and three years of probation in federal court in White Plains, New York. The court ordered him to pay $350,000 in restitution to the IRS. He did not serve any prison time for the tax conviction.

Q: Was Darryl Strawberry pardoned?

Yes. President Donald Trump pardoned Strawberry on November 7, 2025, for the 1995 federal tax evasion conviction. The White House cited his sobriety and his work in Christian recovery ministry. Trump called Strawberry directly to tell him about the pardon.

Q: What was Darryl Strawberry's baseball career?

Strawberry played 17 MLB seasons from 1983 to 1999. The Mets drafted him first overall in 1980, and he won National League Rookie of the Year in 1983. He was an eight-time All-Star and won four World Series titles, one with the Mets in 1986 and three with the Yankees in 1996, 1998, and 1999. He hit 335 career home runs.

Q: What does Darryl Strawberry do now?

Strawberry is an ordained Christian minister and has been sober since 2007. He and his wife Tracy founded Strawberry Ministries and the Darryl Strawberry Recovery Center in St. Cloud, Florida, which provides faith-based addiction treatment. He speaks publicly about addiction and recovery.

Q: Did Darryl Strawberry have cancer?

Yes. Doctors diagnosed Strawberry with colon cancer in October 1998 and he had surgery to remove a tumor. He returned to play for the Yankees in 1999. The cancer returned in 2000 and ended his playing career.

See also

• Tax Evasion
• Presidential Clemency and Pardons
• Supervised Release