JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Austin Maddox has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to charges stemming from an underage sex sting.

Maddox, 34, pleaded guilty Thursday to meeting a minor to do unlawful acts and unlawful use of a two-way communications device. As part of a plea deal, Florida prosecutors dismissed a charge of soliciting a child via computer.

Maddox will get credit for the 501 days he already served in jail. Judge Lindsay Tygart also sentenced him to five years of sex offender probation upon his release. He had faced up to five years in prison.

Maddox was one of 27 people arrested as part of a multi-agency operation in April 2024. They were accused of soliciting sex over the internet from people they believed were children, officials said.

Maddox agreed to meet the girl at a pre-arranged location, where he was arrested by law enforcement officers.

Maddox played college baseball at the University of Florida and was drafted by the Red Sox in 2012. He made his major league debut in 2017 after several years in the minors.

Maddox was on probation as a drug offender at the time of his arrest. He was arrested in November 2022 in Baker County.

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