Ex-A’s minor leaguer allegedly led illegal sports gambling ring
LOS ANGELES — Five men have agreed to plead guilty to federal crimes for their roles in an illegal Southern California sports betting operation that took wagers from professional athletes, authorities said Thursday.
It eventually expanded into a major enterprise that employed three former Major League Baseball players as agents who recruited bettors. Password-protected accounts were set up for clients to place bets on a website run by Sand Island Sports, a company based in Costa Rica. Betting on the outcome of sporting events is legal in some states, but not California.
Nix said he also let the business manager of a professional basketball player bet up to $25,000 per NBA game. Nix and one of his partners, Edon Kagasoff, 44, of Lake Forest, agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business. Nix also admitted that he failed to report $1.5 million in personal income on his 2017 and 2018 federal tax returns.
The charges come at a delicate time for America’s pro sports leagues, which have raced to embrace sports betting — and the billions that could flow from it — while trying to reassure fans that players and other insiders are not betting on games. The NFL this month suspended Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley for at least one year after uncovering evidence that he had bet on NFL games.
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