Alabama man pleads guilty to online sports betting offences
News on 29 Aug 2014
News on 29 Aug 2014
Birmingham, Alabama and federal enforcement officials have revealed that Mark Andrew Edmondson (39) has entered a plea agreement on charges associated with online sportsbetting.
Prosecutors allege that Edmondson operated the betting website Betkill.net for three years and profited by $67,000 – an amount which is now subject to forfeiture.
The online bookie will be arraigned on September 11.
Online sports betting cases are rare in Alabama, Edmondson’s attorney Tommy Spina claimed this week. “It’s not charged as bookmaking cases have been charged traditionally. The gist of the offense is the transmission of wagering of information on the internet,” he told reporters.
“I’ve been involved in almost every bookmaking case in recent history,” Spina said. “This is the first one I’ve seen charged like this, and it’s probably the first one at all in at least 10 years.”
Edmondson was the owner of A&C Professionals, a consulting firm for sports events. In July 2011, he became the administrator of the Betkill website and started to take sports wagers.
It is claimed in court documents that from 2011 through April 2014, Edmondson took wagers and registered them on the website. He regularly received cash and checks from clients, and deposited them into the clients’ accounts for use in sports betting.
On Aug. 30, 2013, Edmondson took $1,000 in cash from someone identified in court records only as “Individual A” to be deposited in that person’s account. They met in the parking lot of Pablo’s Restaurant & Cantina in Birmingham to exchange the money, which was then deposited and bets placed.
On Sept. 29, that person met with Edmondson again to withdraw his account balance. Edmondson gave “Individual A” a white envelope that contained $2,311.
FBI agents subsequently executed a search warrant at Edmondson’s home, seizing $67,017. Betkill.net has since been shut down.
Edmondson has agreed to plead guilty to one count of transmission of wagering information. The maximum prison sentence for that charge is two years, with a maximum fine of $250,000. He has agreed to forfeit the $67,017, and all rights to betkill.net.
