Lenny Dykstra, Former Baseball Star, To Be Released From Prison This Weekend

Former Major League Baseball outfielder Lenny Dykstra will reportedly be released from a California prison this Sunday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. He has served 15 months of his three-year sentence.

Dykstra, 50, faced charges of grand theft auto, identity theft, embezzlement, filing false financial statements and possession of cocaine and ecstasy. He was also charged with soliciting sex on Craigslist. He plead no contest and entered a drug rehabilitation program. He was sentenced in March, 2012.

Later that year new charges for bankruptcy, concealment of assets and money laundering followed, but Dykstra managed to avoid the 20-year sentence as prosecutors suggested a lesser two-and-a-half years.

"I was surprised they let him out before the three years, to be quite frank with you," said Christopher Frankie, author of "Nailed: The Improbable Rise and Spectacular Fall of Lenny Dykstra." "Because he blatantly disobeyed the court, and a lot of the stuff was very brazen. He was doing it in the full view of law enforcement."

"I hope, for his sake, his family's sake, and the public's sake, that he doesn't return to his criminal past," Frankie said.

He added: "I think people in this country really love a comeback story, so he certainly has that opportunity. But I'm not convinced that's the path he's going to take."

Dykstra had a 12-year career with the Phillies and the Mets, and was nicknamed "Nails" for his hard-nosed personality and fearless play. He retired at 33 in 1996.