A second man has pleaded guilty in federal court to running an illegal gambling operation.
Prosecutors say 24-year-old Charles J. Simone of Liberty pleaded guilty Thursday to running an illegal gambling operation.
Simone's guilty plea also comes with a hefty price tag; he's forfeiting
$10,000 in profits to the government along with his laptop, which
federal agents confiscated last March.
Prosecutors say the Kansas City, Missouri, operation started
in March
2006. Simone started as a bookmaker on December 21, 2008, through March
31, 2009. Simone handled multiple bettors, mostly in KCMO, who bet more
than $147,287. Prosecutors say bookmakers took home a percentage of the
winning at the end of each season (as an example, prosecutors say Simone
pocketed 25 percent of his bettors' losses at the end of the 2008-2009
NFL season).
Simone faces up to five years in federal prison
without parole and up to
a $250,000 fine. His sentencing hearing hasn't been scheduled yet.
Prosecutors
say Simone and other
bookmakers gave bettors a 1-800
number and Web site to bet on sporting events, and used
another 1-800 number to track the wagers and account balances.
The 1-800 numbers went to a Costa Rican company, which received
the
wagers and tracked the results but didn't have an interest in the
outcomes of the bets. Prosecutors say Simone and other bookmakers
made payments and collected cash in person from their clients on a
weekly basis.
In a related case, 26-year-old Michael V.
Badalucco of North Kansas City admitted
last week to being a bookmaker in an illegal gambling operation.
Badalucco
could get up to two years in federal prison without parole and as much
as a $250,000 fine.
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