Lenny Dykstra is contrite yet still defiant after sentencing

Lenny Dykstra had already filed for bankruptcy and was fighting to somehow keep the $17.4-million mansion he had purchased from hockey legend Wayne Gretzky when he was interviewed by The Times’ Alejandro Lazo back in October 2010.

Back then, a defiant Dykstra was confident he would once again make his way back to the top. “I have been fighting my whole life,” Dykstra said. “That’s why I have a new theme song, dude, and I am going to play it for you:

“I want to be a billionaire, so … bad, buy all of the things I never had,” he sang along, loudly and off-key, to the Travie McCoy song “Billionaire,” as it blared from his Bose computer speakers. “I want to be on the cover of Forbes magazine, smiling next to Oprah and the queen.”

The onetime baseball great turned financial guru probably won’t be on the cover of Forbes anytime soon. Not only did he fail to regain his fortune in the 17 months since that interview, but an attempt to do so has landed him in jail.

Dykstra was sentenced to three years in state prison Monday for grand theft auto and filing a false financial statement. According to prosecutors, Dykstra and two others tried to lease and then sell cars from several dealerships by claiming credit through a nonexistent business.

But although that sentence could add up to less than a year of actual jail time, Dykstra’s legal problems aren’t close to being over. He still faces trial on 13 criminal counts, including federal bankruptcy, fraud and obstruction of justice. That could mean up to 80 years in prison for the three-time All-Star center fielder.

Dykstra told L.A. County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Ulfig on Monday, “I’m doing everything in my power to be a better person,” including a stint at a sober-living facility.

But while he was no longer singing the Travie McCoy song, Dykstra was still somewhat defiant after the sentencing, claiming he did not deserve jail time.

“I do have remorse for some of the things I’ve done,” he said. “But because I wasn’t a perfect person, am I a criminal? Everyone wants to make me out to be a monster.”

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