updated 7:37 p.m. ET Aug. 13, 2007

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Darryl Strawberry is having more legal trouble.

The government has filed a lawsuit against the troubled baseball star, seeking to collect nearly a half-million dollars in unpaid taxes.

The complaint filed here Friday was years in the making. Strawberry was indicted in 1994 on federal tax evasion charges and pleaded guilty the following year.

He was sentenced to six months home confinement and ordered to repay $350,000 in taxes.

In all, with penalties and interest, the government said Strawberry owes $481,656.86 as of May 31.

A Justice Department spokesman said he could not comment on why the lawsuit was being filed so long after Strawberry’s indictment or whether the former baseball player had previously paid any of the back taxes he owed.

No attorney was listed for Strawberry in court filings and calls to several lawyers who previously represented him were not returned.

The IRS and federal prosecutors investigated Strawberry in 1994 for failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income from autographs and memorabilia. He was indicted along with his agent Eric Goldschmidt later that year.

Strawberry, an eight-time All-Star and member of two World Series winners, has also battled drug addiction and cancer. He served 11 months in prison in 2002-03 for violating probation on cocaine possession charges.

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