Greenwood man among three sentenced in illegal gambling operation
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A federal judge sentenced three men — including one from Greenwood — to pay a combined $661,800 in connection to an illegal gambling operation.
Prosecutors say 44-year-old Grady Brandon Mobley of Waynesboro, Georgia operated as a bookie for illegal sports betting for at least a decade, first as a one-man operation, then as part of a Costa Rica-based sports betting website.
In 2015, he merged his operation with a smaller gambling ring run by 59-year-old Joel Rees Jones, of Greenwood, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Georgia. From 2015-17, Mobley cashed about $220,000 in bettors' checks through his parents' business, Mobley Package Shop, in Gerard, Georgia. Authorities say Mobley then got 40-year-old Daniel Cates, also of Waynesboro, to funnel about a quarter-million dollars in gambling proceeds through his business, Cates Firestone, in return for money and favors.
"Their greed eventually caught up with them and now they will suffer the consequences," Chris Hacker, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta, said in a released statement.
Mobley admitted to investigators that he lied on his tax filings to hide his illicit earnings. A court filing says the man reported just $24 in other income on his 2017 tax return.
"Operating an illegal gambling operation and filing false tax returns to the IRS are dangerous moves," IRS-Criminal Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman said in a released statement. "Not only can the unreported income from the gambling operation result with tax due, interest, and penalties, but it also can result in prison time."
In an agreement first announced in March, the men each pleaded guilty to one count of prohibition of illegal gambling business and saw a money laundering count dismissed. Mobley also pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud and false statements.
Before the sentence was handed down in Augusta federal court, Mobley's attorney made a bid to get a probationary sentence for his client, similar to what his co-defendants negotiated. Noting that Mobley had already paid his fine, forfeiture and the back taxes on his gambling earnings — the attorney called it "a modest amount when compared to income from his full-time work" — he argued that gambling prosecutions were rare in the U.S., with many states already having legalized sports gambling. It's so prolific, even the Augusta Chronicle has for decades published point spreads and a number of national online sports websites provide gambling-related information, the attorney wrote. To the lawyer's knowledge, this was the district's first sports gambling prosecution.
He also pointed to Mobley's many legitimate jobs, which help support his parents, and 28 letters of support sent on behalf of his client.
The motion of sentencing consideration worked. Instead of the prison term of 12 months and one day Mobley initially agreed to serve, Chief U.S. District Judge J. Randal Hall on Wednesday sentenced him to five years probation, ordered him to pay $207,716 in restitution and fined him $2,000 under a plea agreement. Mobley also agreed to forfeit $340,084. Jones was sentenced to four years probation and fined $10,000 while Cates was given a three-year probationary sentence and fined $4,000. Cates also agreed to forfeit $100,000.
"With his long-running illegal gambling operations, Grady Mobley showed utter disregard for the law and compounded the activity by drawing others into his orbit," Acting U.S. Attorney David H. Estes said in a release. "These sentences will hold them all accountable for their actions."
