Newport Beach Sports Bookie Sentenced in Federal Court
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| $10 the Angels will lose |
Bzroska had managed an illegal sports betting operation in Newport Beach for at least four years until December 2008, when two law enforcement officers exited a local restaurant, saw Bzroska hand another man an envelope in the parking, tailed him in his vehicle on suspicion of narcotics activity, stopped him and unraveled the scheme.
Federal agents seized more than $105,000 from Bzroska's operation that used an offshore account located in Costa Rica, according to records reviewed by the Weekly.
Bzroska, who was born in 1972, pleaded guilty late last year.
Claiming he is "ashamed and devastated" by his conduct, Bzroska--who now lives in Utah, works in real estate and enjoys coaching youth sports--sought leniency from U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter and got it.
Federal prosecutor Todd Tristan sealed his pre-sentencing report.
However, I learned that Bzroska took some sort of action for the government that pleased them enough to approve in secret a significant downward departure in his liability.
It probably also helped that Bzroska received numerous glowing letters of character support from individuals in Salt Lake City, but we''ll never know for certain because Carter sealed the reasoning for his leniency.
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