Former MLB player and wife charged in alleged youth baseball fee fraud

Durham police say former major leaguer Richard Butler and his wife Michelle are accused of diverting roughly $60,000 in registration fees for the 2025-2026 Ontario Devil Rays youth baseball program into personal accounts. The fees were collected from families between April 1 and Oct. 31 of the previous year, but the promised training services were never delivered. An email sent on Oct. 19, 2025, claimed the program had dissolved due to financial hardship and cited a bankruptcy, though investigators found the lawyer’s name was used without consent and no bankruptcy filing existed.

Both individuals have been charged with one count each of fraud over $5,000, possession of property. Richard Butler previously played for the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays. Police warn there may be additional victims and ask the public for information.