Months of Legal Wrangling End in Ex-Tiger's Rape Case

» Get Patch’s daily newsletter and news alerts.

Former Detroit Tigers pitcher Evan Reed has avoided a possible 15-year prison sentence and a public trial on charges that he drugged and then raped a woman he met at a Royal Oak bar on the eve of the Tigers’ Opening Day in 2014.

Reed, formerly of Royal Oak, entered a plea of no contest to misdemeanor aggravated assault Friday in Wayne County Circuit Court, The Detroit News reports. In exchange, the prosecution agreed to drop two more serious charges of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, punishable by 15 years in prison.

Reed will be sentenced on Aug. 7, with the terms and length of probation the only matters before Circuit Court Judge Shannon Walker. The sentencing could occur earlier, because Reed’s attorney has asked that the process be expedited.

Reed, who now lives in California, has been contacted by at least three baseball teams that had questions about the case, his attorney, Ben Gonek, told The Detroit News.

Gonek declined to name the teams, but said Reed – now a free agent after pitching 32 games for the Tigers in 2014 before he was sent down to their Triple-A affiliate in Toledo – is training and working out daily.

Related

• Former Tigers Pitcher Charged in Alleged Drugging, Raping of Woman
• Judge Tosses Sex Charges Against Detroit Tigers Pitcher, Says Alleged Victim ‘Not Very Credible’
• Judge Reinstates Charges Against Ex-Tiger Evan Reed
• Ex-Tiger Evan Reed Looking for Another Dismissal of Rape Charges
• Ex-Tiger’s On-and-Off Rape Trial On Again

Reed has insisted throughout months of legal wrangling that he had consensual sex with the victim, a woman in her mid-40s he met in a Royal Oak bar and then took to his sixth-floor hotel room at the MotorCity Casino in Detroit. She claims he drugged her drink, then raped her.

The charges against Reed were dismissed last August by 36th District Court Judge Kenneth King, who said the victim was “not very credible.” The charges were reinstated in November, and in March, Reed’s lawyers asked the Michigan Court of Appeals to overturn the reinstatement of charges. The court declined to hear the petition.