Update: Illegal Sports Betting Case Concluded After Two Years

The owner of the bar involved in illegal activities sentenced to probation Pat Patte (72), the owner of Patte's Sports Bar in Wilkes-Barre, was sentenced to 3 years probation, six months home confinement and a fine of $20,000 for organizing online gambling activities out of his field of business, WNEP-TV reports. After two years, the case related to illegal online sports betting was closed, and the defendant Patte will also have to pay $100,000 to keep the venue where he has been running his business over the last 46 years and residence, otherwise the federal government would seize the property. Though this was a costly experience for the bar-owner, he will after all be allowed to keep his sports bar open. Last year, Patte pleaded guilty to illegal gambling after investigators claimed that wagers were made and paid out both at the Wilkes-Barre sports bar and online. He also confessed to enabling the wire transmission of illegal gambling data, a serious offense for which the punishment includes imprisonment up to two years and fine up to a $250,000. After a year-long open corruption probe led by federal agents, Patte was arrested last year, however most of the documents related to the case, including also affidavits reportedly explaining details of the charges, initially remained sealed. Apart from Patte, Mark Fino, Sports Bar manager, and Christopher Marion, also pleaded guilty for participating in the illegal gambling activities.