Plea deal frees Dykstra from prison

FORMER Phillies star Lenny Dykstra has been released from state prison in California after reaching a plea agreement in a car theft and drug case.

Yesterday in San Fernando, Calif., Dykstra pleaded no contest to three counts of grand theft auto and one count of filing a false financial statement with a value of more than $100,000.

Dykstra is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 20. As part of the plea deal, he faces up to 4 years in state prison.

With Judge Cynthia Ulfig's decision to release him, Dykstra reverts to being out on bail in his federal case. He has been in prison since June. He is accused of embezzling $400,000 from his bankrupt estate. Dykstra has denied those charges.

"He's happy to be out at this time," said Dykstra's business manager, Daniel Herman, of West Chester. "He's now going to focus on the federal charges . . .

"He did not plead guilty to anything and that's my definition of winning."

The four state charges were among 25 brought against him by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. The remaining charges are expected to be dismissed at sentencing.

Dykstra, 48, had pleaded not guilty to the state charges and was facing 12 years in prison.

He was charged in June with multiple counts of trying to lease high-end automobiles from several dealerships by allegedly providing fraudulent information and claiming credit through a phony business, Home Free Systems.

Police also said they found cocaine and Ecstasy, along with a synthetic human growth hormone, in Dykstra's home in April when they were attempting to execute a search warrant.

Previously, Dykstra's former accountant, Robert Hymers, 27, pleaded no contest to one felony count of identity theft. Christopher Gavanis, 30, a friend of Dykstra's, pleaded no contest to one felony count of filing a false financial statement. Sentencing was put over for 1 year on each.

"The events that transpired with Lenny's state case just prove his theory that truly the comeback is possible," Herman said. "When a man loses everything, he is capable of anything."