Final Legendz defendant escapes jail sentence

The final defendant in the massive Legendz online sports betting bust that took place in 2013 (see previous reports) was sentenced by an Oklahoma federal judge this week.

Bartice “Luke” King (46) escaped jail in a sentence which apparently handed down a milder punishment than the prosecution had expected as presiding U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot criticised the prosecution’s conduct.

The Oklahoman newspaper reports that Judge Friot ordered King to pay $12.6 million to the federal government, spend five years on probabtion with five months of it confined to his Texas home, and complete 312 hours of community service.

The prosecution had asked for a $222 million forfeiture and a long list of valuable property that included five parcels of land and three cars, along with a 41 month prison sentence,.

King spent four months in jail after being indicted in 2013. He was released after posting bail of $1 million in cash. He was subsequently convicted at a jury trial in 2015 of conducting an illegal gambling business and conspiring to commit money laundering, but was acquitted on a racketeering charge.

The jury in the trial noted that: “With all the ‘legal’ sports gambling that goes on in the U.S., coupled with the fact that no one was physically harmed and nobody was forced to place bets, I see no threat to society,” and this influenced Judge Friot’s ruling, but he was also critical of what he described as the “disheartening misconduct” of federal investigators and the prosecution in the case, saying this was “not trivial”.

The Judge was specific in his criticism, noting that the prosecution initially made the “preposterous” claim that Legendz Sports had handled more than $1 billion in illegal bets during its existence, and suggested that the prosecution “played fast and loose with the facts”.

Judge Friot also concluded that the government had falsely stated King’s only income during the time of the conspiracy was from his illegal sports betting business.

On Thursday the judge admonished one prosecutor, John Han, for unprofessional conduct in the case. Han is a U.S. Justice Department attorney from outside Oklahoma who was brought in to help in the prosecution.

Although the 98-page indictment was unsealed in 2013, an FBI investigation into illegal online sports betting had been active since 2008, The Oklahoman reports. Code-named “Operation Bad Luck” the investigation involved undercover operatives making sports bets.

King was the last of 28 defendants associated with the now-shuttered Legendz Sports to be sentenced in the 2013 case. None were ordered to prison.