There have been many cases of celebrities involved in theft. From Wynona Ryder and Lindsay Lohan to Mike Leake and Lenny Dykstra, celebrities are known to have been involved in theft. You might be asking yourself who exactly are the last two guys. Both are professional baseball players.

Leake was arrested for shoplifting T-shirts from a K-Mart and Dykstra, well his life turned south after he left The Show!

Dykstra Going to Jail

The disgraced ex-New York Mets outfielder was sentenced to three years in a California state prison after pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement. This according to the Washington Post.

The judge refused to allow Dykstra to withdraw his plea and said the scam to lease high-end automobiles from dealerships by providing fraudulent information and claiming credit through a phony business showed sophistication and extensive planning.

The 49-year-old former MLB star has had a series of recent legal troubles and the prison sentence is part of a post-career downward spiral for the stocky slugger known as “Nails” that has included a stint at a sober living facility.

In a rambling and impassioned plea for probation, Dykstra said he has tried to make amends for his past transgressions and said he would be cleared of any wrongdoing had his motion to withdraw his plea been granted.

Car Theft, Cocaine and Ecstasy

Dykstra initially pleaded not guilty to 25 counts after police arrested him and found cocaine, Ecstasy and synthetic human growth hormone at his Los Angeles home last April. He changed his plea in October to no contest and in exchange prosecutors dropped 21 counts.

At one auto dealer Dykstra and Christopher Gavanis, 30, a friend of Dykstra’s, were able to drive off with three cars by providing fraudulent information to the dealer.

Dykstra had previously tried twice to fraudulently lease cars but the leases were not approved. He wasn’t dissuaded the first two times with the scam and “hit a home run” the third time. Those cars were later returned and only depreciated in value.

The Long, Steep Fall

This is yet another sad case of a player who made and squandered millions of dollars. Drugs and alcohol are the foundation for his failings!

Dykstra still faces federal bankruptcy charges and is scheduled to stand trial this summer. He filed for bankruptcy a few years ago, claiming he owed more than $31 million and had only $50,000 in assets. Federal prosecutors said that after filing, Dykstra hid, sold or destroyed more than $400,000 worth of items from the $18.5 million mansion without permission of a bankruptcy trustee.

Dykstra, who spent his 12-year career with the Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, also has pleaded not guilty to indecent exposure charges for allegedly exposing himself to women he met on Craigslist.

I remember “Nails” as a gritty player. The kind of guy you might want to emulate, except for the huge wad of tobacco he is known for having in his cheek. It saddens me to see him fall to such lows. Perhaps with a drug and stop theft class and some time to consider his previous poor decisions, Dykstra will once again use his gritty, hard-working nature to overcome this huge setback. Perhaps when he gets out of jail he could benefit from a Califorina Theft Class