Urbina Gets 14 Years for Attempted Murder

[color="SlateGray"]Ex-Pitcher Sentenced for Role in Violent Attack

CARACAS, Venezuela (March 28) - Former major league pitcher Ugueth Urbina was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday for the attempted murder of five workers on his family's ranch.

Urbina enjoyed his best years as a Montreal Expo in the late 1990s, including 41 saves in '99. He also pitched for the Marlins, Red Sox, Phillies and Tigers.

Urbina, a former pitcher with the Philadelphia Phillies, was also found guilty of illegal deprivation of liberty and violating a prohibition against taking justice into his own hands during a dispute over a gun on Oct. 16, 2005, the Attorney General's Office said in a statement.

The 32-year-old free agent was accused of joining a group of men in attacking and injuring workers with machetes and pouring gasoline on them at his family's ranch, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Caracas.

"The ruling was too severe," said Jose Antonio Baez, a former attorney who represented Urbina.

Urbina repeatedly has denied involvement with the violence, saying he was sleeping at the time of the attack.

The pitcher's lawyer, Jose Luis Tamayo, has said that Urbina surprised the workers by showing up at his ranch that night while they were bathing in the pool without permission. Urbina spoke sharply to them, but later left and went to sleep, according to Tamayo.

What is it with these mestizos and the machete attacks?

-Jim