Online Gambling Charges Lead To Pennsylvania Bar Seizure Request

Charges have been filed against Pat Patte Jr. after federal authorities found evidence that Patte Jr. was running an illegal online sports betting operation out of his bar. Now, the authorities are attempting to seize the bar.

The US Attorney's Office has filed charges after an undercover operation that ran from June 2009 to February 11th, 2010. The undercover officers placed bets at an online gambling site, and paid and collected their winnings at Patte's Sports Bar.

Shortly after his arrest last Friday, Patte Jr. was released on his own recognizance. Five days later, his lawyers petitioned the court to allow Patte Jr. to take a trip to the Bahamas that was planned in October of 2009. The judge in the case allowed for the travel despite the objection of prosecutors.

Two employees at the sports bar were charged with conspiracy and Patte was charged with one count of conspiring to use wire communications to transmit gambling information. The arrest was one of several that was made around the US last week involving sports gambling.

The weeks after the Super Bowl are usually a busy time for authorities who have been investigating illegal sports betting operations. Many of these operations use offices in other countries to take the bets via a telephone call or on an Internet site.

Once the outcome of the games are determined, agents are used to pay out or collect in the wagers. It is an illegal activity that the US government has been cracking down on for years.

In most of these cases, the US Justice Department uses the Wire Cat as the source of the arrests. Charges related to racketeering and conspiracy usually accompany any online sports gambling arrests, since outside countries are being used in the operation.

February 20, 2010
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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