Racketeers convicted over $1bn illicit gambling operation

Members of a $1bn illegal gambling business have been convicted of racketeering by a federal jury in Oklahoma City.

A trial heard how Kelly Dorn and Kory Koralewski conspired with others to operate Legendz Sports, an enterprise which ran internet and telephone gambling services from Panama City.

The operation took over $1bn in illegal wagers, almost exclusively from US gamblers betting on domestic sporting events.

Dorn, who was also convicted of conducting an illegal gambling business, illegally solicited and accepted wagers, and also settled gambling debts, while Koralewski facilitated the movement of illegal gambling proceeds from the US to Panama.

The case was investigated by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, with the assistance of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the US Marshals Service.

A sentencing hearing has not yet been set.

In a separate case, a grand jury in New York recently indicted 17 people in connection with a suspected illegal, international, online sports-betting syndicate.

The FBI had raided an online sports-wagering ring featuring more than 2,000 bettors, which it accused of collecting $32m in illegal bets on football, basketball, baseball and hockey.