Blogs by Danny B Part 30

Blogs by Danny B

Part 30

14 Touts got arrested that day and it turned out to be the largest Gambling Arrest ever in South West Florida.. We were being charged with the Wire Wager Act and over 14 Million Dollars was seized from us before we even seen the Judge..

 The courtroom was very hectic & filled with media, attorneys and family members who were in a state of panic especially my 8 month pregnant wife... We had no family in Florida and we were not friendly with the others since I left their company in November of 2003, so you can imagine how worried Jamie was since all our money was gone.. We had about 5k in cash and that was it!

  You can read the details of the arrest if you research the case.. The fact was originally the Feds thought we were bookmakers working out of Florida but after the investigation was over they realized we were just a Handicapping service referring players to certain casino that we knew would pay quickly plus allow us 3rd party payouts which was very common and was transferred by the player not the casino... We made too much money and they spent too much money so we were charged with a crime that technically we were not guilty of..

 We all made bail by the next day and were meeting with our attorneys.. I was very lucky to find Peter Ringsmuth who was by far the best in town.. Peter told me we have a problem because 3 or 4 guys were already making deals to avoid jail time.. he also said we could beat the case if we all stood together, but that was not in the cards..

 I agreed to plea out if the Feds would agree to return the money I made after I left the other company.. I needed to know if something happened Jamie would have money.. remember she was 8 months pregnant and all alone.. Peter presented my offer to the prosecutor and after a few days they agreed to give back a large sum after I got sentenced in August of 2003.. They agreed it was not part of their investigation which ended in December of 2003.. They waited to April 8th of 2004 knowing there would be more money made during March Madness...

 Our son was born on May 20th of 2004 and all I wanted to do was hold him and never leave his side because I did not know if jail time would be imposed, most were 1st time offenders and were pretty much looking at house arrest and probation..

  I was sentenced on August 29th and was very lucky to get 6 months House Arrest and 3 years probation which basically everyone received.. This was a high profile case that also featured Legendary NHL Star Jeremy Roenick who was one of our clients.. All the stations carried the story especially ESPN...

   After we finished House Arrest I sold my house and moved to Miami for 3 months and during that time I got a chance to hang out with my childhood friend Kurt Delorenzo who recently passed away..

I also invested a large sum of money into Sports Memorabilia and planed on opening a side business selling and collecting.. My wife got lonely and wanted to move back to Pa to have family around.. I did not want to leave especially since I was living on the Beach in a beautiful high rise... But I understood where my wife was coming from so we moved back to Pa in July of 2005....