Poker Player Indicted In New York Over Sports BettingJay Sharon, Seven Others, Facing Years In Prison For Alleged Illegal Gambling |
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A Queens County grand jury on Tuesday indicted eight individuals, including poker player Jay Sharon, over an alleged illegal sports gambling operation that is accused of booking more than $3.5 million in bets annually.
The government said that the operation involved websites and toll-free telephone numbers set up to facilitate the bets.
The defendants are charged with enterprise corruption, a violation of New York State’s Organized Crime Control Act, as well as money laundering, promoting gambling and conspiracy. The defendants are in custody in New York and Las Vegas, and are awaiting arraignment in Queens County Supreme Court, according to a press release.
If convicted, the defendants each face up to 25 years in prison.
“Individuals involved in such traditional criminal enterprises as bookmaking and gambling have attempted to use the anonymity of the Internet to hide their illegal activities," Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. "Over the last few years—working with our law enforcement colleagues—we have taken down a number of these operations and put them out of business. These cases, I believe, have put a significant dent in illegal gambling nationwide—and have saved individuals across the country millions of dollars in gambling losses.”
The investigation into Sharon’s alleged gambling business began in late 2014.
Sharon, a 47-year-old poker player with more $210,000 in lifetime tournament earnings, was the alleged boss of the operation. The NYPD took $93,000 in cash from the men.
The alleged $3.5 million gambling business is just a drop in the bucket for the $148.8 billion illegal gambling market in the United States, a figure estimated by the American Gaming Association, the casino industry’s leading lobbying group on Capitol Hill.
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