Online Sports Betting Organizer Faces Reduced Charges

Guilty plea takes charges off This week resulted in a new development in the case of a 46-year-old Saratoga Springs man, Michael J. Morrissey, who was facing fourth degree money laundering charges for his involvement in online sports betting. Namely, as he pleaded guilty to a lesser fifth degree conspiracy charge, his charges have been reduced to that of a misdemeanor. Apart from the plea, Morrissey also forfeited $25,000 in gambling proceeds and a 2004 Buick Rendezvous vehicle that was allegedly used during the criminal activity. The money will go to the police agencies involved in the investigation and the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, which will divide them equally. According to the prosecution in this case, Morrissey was a part of an online sports betting network in the US which was connected to some Central American countries, and which took bets from US punters on football and baseball games. Morrissey's role consisted of informing and providing punters with an international phone number through which they'd receive access codes to an unidentified online gambling website. In return he'd receive a share of losing wagers and vigorish. However, all his work came to an end when his name emerged on a wiretap in a Schenectady County police investigation, which is continuing across New York state and in Florida, Las Vegas and Costa Rica.
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