LOS ANGELES, Calif.–Former major league baseball star Lenny Dykstra posted bail recently with help from actor Charlie Sheen, a celebrity website said.
TMZ.com reported that Sheen fronted $22,500 for Dykstra’s $150,000 bail for a federal case in which Dykstra, 48, of Encino, is accused of selling or destroying $400,000 in property that was part of his 2009 bankruptcy case.
Dykstra spent about a week in jail until he was helped last week by his friend Sheen, according to TMZ. Dykstra had tried hiring a lawyer to negotiate Sheen’s return to the hit CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men” after Sheen was fired from the show.
“The rendition guilty trolls that kidnapped my dear friend Nails clearly forgot that he’s a fellow Vatican assassin and his best pal is a warlock,” Sheen told TMZ.
CNN reported that federal Central District Magistrate Carla Woehrle released Dykstra on the bond and ordered him to seek outpatient substance abuse treatment and surrender his passport.
Dykstra was arrested April 14 by the Los Angeles Police Department in connection with allegations involving the purchase of vehicles through fraudulent means, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The federal case stems from a bankruptcy case Dykstra filed in July 2009 in Woodland Hills. It is alleged that after declaring bankruptcy, Dykstra removed property that was part of the bankruptcy estate without the permission of the bankruptcy trustee.
“Dykstra admitted in a bankruptcy hearing to having arranged the sale of sports memorabilia and a dresser that were property of the bankruptcy estate; and Dykstra ripped out a $50,000 sink from his mansion and took granite from the mansion and installed it in an office he set up at the Camarillo airport after he had filed for bankruptcy protection,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
After baseball, Dykstra became a businessman, opening a car wash in Corona that the ex-major league ballplayer expanded to other parts of the Southland.
Dykstra also was hired by CNBC “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer to write a stock-picking column for his website, TheStreet.com.
When Dykstra filed for bankruptcy, he listed two residences–a mansion in Ventura County purchased from Janet and Wayne Gretzky that he estimated was worth $18.5 million, and a home in Westlake Village that he estimated was worth $5.4 million, according to federal prosecutors.
As a result of the bankruptcy filing, the residences and Dykstra’s personal property became part of the bankruptcy estate that would be used to pay off creditors.
Even though Dykstra was prohibited from liquidating any part of the estate, the investigation showed that about a month after filing for bankruptcy, he was paid cash at a Los Angeles consignment store for personal items, including a truckload of furnishings and fixtures that he had taken from the Ventura County mansion, according to the government.
Dykstra will return to court on May 16. If convicted of bankruptcy fraud, he could face a maximum of five years in federal prison.
