Sports Betting Ring Busted

[RyanParrill]

A former cop and a city employee

Quote:LANSING, MI - A former police officer in the Downriver area southwest of Detroit pleaded guilty for his involvement in an illegal sports betting operation conducted while he was working, authorities said Thursday.

Ex-Flat Rock police St. Charles Sanders Jr., 46, had been accused of using taxpayer-funded resources - phones at the Flat Rock Police Department - to organize wagers on pro and college football games, point spreads and financial risk.

Sanders, of Gibraltar, pleaded guilty to two counts of misconduct in office, a five-year felony. Prosecutors plan to seek incarceration at his Aug. 10 sentencing in Wayne County Circuit Court.

Kevin Sargent, 35, of Grosse Ile, a city of Trenton public works employee, previously pleaded guilty to illegal sports betting in March. He agreed to testify against Sanders and will be sentenced to two years of probation.

Authorities said their investigation revealed that the men ran a sports betting operation during work hours from August 2006 through January of this year.

Sargent accepted bets by phone, while Sanders served as "the bank" - collecting cash from losers and giving winnings to winners. He accepted bets in his squad car on multiple occasions, according to investigators.

The pleas of both men were announced by Attorney General Bill Schuette and Acting Special Agent in Charge Edward Hanko of the Detroit Field Office.

The investigation was led by the FBI's Detroit Area Public Corruption Task Force. The attorney general's office and Michigan State Police assisted.

[SkyBlues42]

I feel like a lot of these "Sports Betting Rings" are being busted as of late. Either that, or the increased attention on sports betting makes it easier to find stories like this. But I haven't seen one like this.

Ex-police busted, probably by someone on the force that owed him money.

[illadelphia]

(07-13-2012 11:50 AM)SkyBlues42 Wrote:  Ex-police busted, probably by someone on the force that owed him money.

I read somewhere that he was turned in by fellow officer who couldn't pay off his bet on Patrick Bertoletti in the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Seriously though, how funny/awkward would it be to meet up on a given Tuesday to pay or get paid by someone in a marked patrol car?!?!