Guilty pleas in Oklahoma gambling ring investigation

Teddy Mitchell (58), and son Dryden Mitchell (32), indicted in September 2012 on numerous charges that included Federal gambling and money laundering charges , entered into a plea agreement in a U.S. District Court this week.

Mitchell was accused of running a “large-scale” gambling operation from his home in Oklahoma City offering “high stakes” poker and acting as a bookmaker on sporting events through the use of an illegal internet gambling website which was listed as being owned and operated by Gortation Management in Costa Rica.

Under questioning, Mitchell admitted to U.S. District Judge David Russell that he and at least five other men had operated the gambling business between 2004 and 2010.  He told Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Altshuler that his clients in Oklahoma and other States numbered around 60 and that he had been a bookie most of his life.

Some proceeds from the illegal gambling business were spent on real estate which Prosecutors allege was Mitchell’s way of hiding the source of the money.

Others indicted in the case have reportedly pleaded guilty and some clients inadvertently drawn in to the investigation include Ross Parmely a former Tulsa athletic director who was fired towards the end of last year for his involvement.

Mitchell and his son face tough penalties that could involve substantial prison time and hefty fines.

Mitchell senior has been in the public eye previously when his wife Julie Mitchell was murdered in the family home in 2010, the case remains unsolved and her killer still at large.

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