New York State Police Officer Charged With Tipping Off Targets Of Gambling InvestigationThomas J. Loewke, 51, of Rochester, Could Face 20 Years |
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A former New York police officer has been accused of involvement with an illegal sports gambling operation.
According to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Jusice, Thomas Loewke, 51, of Rochester, NY, was arrested and charged with obstruction of a state or local law enforcement investigation and obstruction of an official proceeding. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan McGuire stated Tuesday that according to the complaint, in October 2020, Homeland Security Investigations joined an ongoing joint federal, state, and local law enforcement investigation into illegal gambling businesses.
One of the businesses was an illegal bookmaking operation managed through accounts on the website sport700.com. Multiple business members had access to the website to manage and operate the business, violating various New York State laws, the government said.
During the investigation, investigators intercepted a series of calls and text messages between targets of the investigation, sub-agents and individual bettors discussing the placement of bets, collection of winnings, and payment of losses.
On January 3, 2021, a search warrant was executed on one account belonging to an individual identified as Target 1. A review of the account indicated that Target 1 had 16 sub-agents who collectively managed 221 individual bettor accounts.
Throughout the duration of the account, April 2019 through January 2021, Target 1 generated $1,241,172 in profits. In February 2021, a search warrant was executed on an account belonging to a second target of the investigation. Target 2’s account was created on April 25, 2016, had 128 sub-agent accounts managing 1,789 individual bettors and profits of $8,945,629.
During the investigation, investigators overheard a phone call between Target 1 and Target 2, during which Target 1 said that a member of the New York State Troopers named “TJ” had tipped him off to the ongoing investigation. The targets then discussed changing the passwords and domain name of the website and erasing the betting history to avoid detection.
At the time, Loewke was a Sergeant with the New York State Police.
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