Real Salt Lake player Ricardo Velazco pleads guilty to reduced charges

According to a Deseret News report, Real Salt Lake player Ricardo Velazco has pleaded guilty to reduced charges after being charged with unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

The Deseret News report said that Velazco pleaded guilty to sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor, and that sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 16.

Velazco, 24, has been suspended from all soccer-related activity by Major League Soccer since August 24 after the charges.

Velazco signed with Real Salt Lake in Sept. 2016 from the team’s second-division USL club, Real Monarchs. He made nine MLS appearances in 2017 before suffering an ankle injury, which required season-ending surgery.

Real Salt Lake has not yet issued a statement about the plea.