HIALEAH, Fla. – Sergio Velazquez, the Hialeah police chief from 2012 to 2021, walked out of jail Tuesday after prosecutors accused him of stealing city funds to cover lavish personal expenses including shopping for Rolex, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, and Versace.

Attorney Rick Diaz represented Velazquez, 61, when he appeared before Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer Tuesday in bond court. Before corrections released him, he had to prove that the source of his $30,000 bond was not criminal.

Records show prosecutors accused Velazquez of stealing over $635,000 out of the $2.6 million that vanished while he allegedly exploited the city’s narcotics investigations and forfeiture funds.

Velazquez faced charges of organized fraud, money laundering, and first-degree grand theft.

With the trade deadline less than two months out, it may be time for sellers to start gauging the market.

FanSided’s Robert Murray compiled a list of four players who he expects to come up in trade rumors moving forward. On that list was Miami Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers, who was dealt away by the Baltimore Orioles alongside Connor Norby at last summer’s deadline as part of the Trevor Rogers trade.

The Marlins’ current regime has not hesitated to deal away key big league contributors, and that could very well continue. Murray reported that one rival executive believes the franchise will try to get value for anyone besides catcher Agustín Ramírez or starting pitcher Eury Pérez.

That would leave Stowers up for grabs, despite his standing as Miami’s most productive position player so far in 2025.

Stowers, 27, is currently batting .279 with 10 home runs, eight doubles, 32 RBIs, an .837 OPS and 0.7 WAR. He was a career .208 hitter with a .600 OPS through 117 games prior to this season.

The former top prospect won’t be arbitration eligible until after the 2026 season, and he won’t hit free agency until 2030. As a result, Murray posited that the Marlins’ asking price could be high.

At the same time, contenders looking for a boost to their outfield depth chart could be willing to meet those demands by the time playoff races are closer in late July.

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