Several weeks after the bookmaker to Shohei Ohtani’s ex-interpreter reported to prison, another high-profile Southern California bookie learned his fate Tuesday in a Los Angeles courtroom.
The conviction of Christopher Scott King underscores a longstanding push by federal authorities to crack down on the California illegal sports betting market. On Tuesday, a U.S. District Court judge sentenced King to 21 months in prison, imposing a sentence recommended by prosecutors earlier this month. The period of incarceration is nearly double the sentence Matt Bowyer received in August.
Bowyer, a longtime bookmaker and professional gambler, accepted roughly $325 million in wagers from Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter of Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani. While Bowyer’s case received considerable fanfare given his ties to Mizuhara, the King matter mostly flew under the radar. The convictions of King and Bowyer remove two of the largest players from the California illegal sports betting market, one of the largest in the nation.
California bookie forfeits $10 million in plea deal
Over a four-year period through 2022, King generated more than $13 million in unreported income from his illegal bookmaking business and other sources, according to court filings. In April, King pleaded guilty to operating an illegal gambling business, tax evasion and money laundering.
The bookmaker, through false tax returns, told the Internal Revenue Service that he collectively had $1,681,461 in taxable income for those years, prosecutors said.
As part of his plea agreement, King agreed to a $10 million forfeiture and to pay restitution covering the $3.8 million tax loss he caused to the federal government. King already paid the restitution and the forfeiture, a spokesman from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California told iGB.
Before reporting to FCI Lompoc, a minimum-security prison camp, on 10 October, Bowyer told iGB that he maintained some of the same sports betting clients as King. Although numerous professional athletes wagered with Bowyer’s operation, it is unclear if any bet with King.
While Bowyer’s client list contained at least 700 bettors at the peak of his operation, prosecutors did not disclose the size of King’s book. Both bookmakers funneled customer wagers to offshore websites whose servers are located in Costa Rica.
King appeared in federal court for sentencing Tuesday, less than a week after federal prosecutors in Brooklyn unsealed indictments against 34 defendants in a joint poker-sports betting investigation. Three NBA figures, including Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Heat guard Terry Rozier, are among the defendants.
King’s vast real estate portfolio
According to prosecutors, King owned several multimillion-dollar residential properties in southern California, most notably a $15 million house in Pacific Palisades. King also owned a home and condo in Santa Monica worth an estimated $8 million, along with a $3.8 million property in Palm Desert.
Federal prosecutors accused King of using gambling profits to launder money by channeling it through real estate projects and gold. King allegedly bought the properties, used illegal gambling funds to improve them, then subsequently sold the properties, according to prosecutors.
In one instance, King wrote a $50,000 check to a contracting company, two days after he deposited an $84,500 check from a bettor into a bank account, prosecutors said. King at times received cryptocurrency payments from customers in the course of their illegal gambling.
Contrition from bookie at sentencing
Attorneys for King wrote in a pre-sentence memo that their client is working to navigate a challenging period. King is a recovering gambling addict, according to his attorneys, and nearly lost his home in the Palisades wildfire, they wrote. Nevertheless, they stated that he took “full responsibility,” for his actions and cooperated with the government in the investigation.
King received credit for providing information to the government on an unnamed associate. By comparison, Bowyer’s substantial cooperation resulted in an eight-level downward departure in sentencing guidelines, which U.S. District Judge John Holcomb deemed “extraordinary.”
Two other bookmakers in the sweeping probe await sentencing. As with Bowyer, poker player Damien Leforbes pleaded guilty to laundering millions of dollars through a Las Vegas casino. Another defendant, Wayne Nix, has seen his sentencing delayed numerous times over the last few years.
While U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Blumenthal Jr. also sentenced King to three years supervised release, he did not impose additional fines beyond the forfeiture. King, who is scheduled to surrender by 6 January, did not comment outside a federal courthouse on Tuesday.
A 21-month sentence given to King nearly doubles the length of one imposed against the bookie of Shohei Ohtani’s ex-interpreter