Tweet
A legal idea called "extraordinary restitution" is being used in the sentencing of people who were caught in last year's federal crackdown on sports bookmaking operations at St. Paul bars and restaurants.
On Thursday, a 36-year-old Edina businessman who lost $850,000 in illegal bets was sentenced to pay $70,000 to two state agencies for gambling addiction and enforcement programs and another $30,000 to a special fund that is being set up to pay travel expenses for families who are visiting female inmates at federal prison facilities.
John Boss II, president of General Office Products, also will buy a full-page ad addressing gambling addiction that will be published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press sports section, according to terms of a sentence that was imposed by U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum.
Also on Thursday, another defendant in the case, Steven Fred Trumble, 50, part owner of the Pub East at 1180 E. Seventh St. in St. Paul, was sentenced to place an ad in the paper that addresses illegal gambling.
"We're trying to hit the education front on a number of different levels, and this is part of that," said assistant U.S. attorney Bill Koch, who prosecuted the cases and helped work out sentencing agreements.
Boss and Trumble also were sentenced to three years of probation that included 60 days of home detention and were ordered to undergo counseling and do community service.
Both men had pleaded guilty to "misprision of a felony," which pertains to being involved in a crime but failing to report it. The offense is unique because it involves the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination and can't be used to prosecute someone in a trial. Instead, it only applies to situations in which the defendant pleads guilty.
The felony in both cases was being involved with illegal gambling and bookmaking.
The two men were among 14 people charged last April in a federal probe of illegal sports gambling operations in St. Paul bars. Twelve of the defendants entered guilty pleas, one was convicted in a trial and one was acquitted.
Walter Awada, 57, convicted in November of six money-laundering offenses, is expected to be sentenced next month. The owner of Awada's on Plato and two other St. Paul restaurants, Awada was accused of laundering money for bookmaker Douglas Sabby by cashing $60,000 in checks that were made out by Boss to settle his gambling debts.
Sabby, 57, of Vadnais Heights, pleaded guilty to 13 felony counts involving bookmaking and was a prosecution witness at Awada's trial — as was Boss.
Last week, Rosenbaum sentenced two others involved in the case who had pleaded guilty: John Joseph Kelly, 71, of St. Paul, who is co-owner of the Depot Bar; and Timothy John Weiss, who runs Gabe's by the Park bar and restaurant in St. Paul.
Neither man received jail time, but Weiss was required to draft a letter about illegal gambling and send it to all liquor license holders in St. Paul. The men also were ordered to pay money to the transportation program for families of female prisoners.
The transportation program was devised by Rosenbaum and other U.S. district judges in Minnesota as a way of addressing a problem peculiar to women who are sent to federal prisons. There are no federal women's prisons in Minnesota, Wisconsin or Iowa. The closest is near Peoria, Ill.
The fund, Koch said, will make it possible for certain families, especially those who are financially strapped and have children, to visit female inmates. The payments by Boss, Weiss and Kelly were the first to be ordered since the fund was established.
The nine remaining defendants in the case, including Sabby and Awada, are expected to be sentenced during the next six weeks, Koch said.
On Thursday, a 36-year-old Edina businessman who lost $850,000 in illegal bets was sentenced to pay $70,000 to two state agencies for gambling addiction and enforcement programs and another $30,000 to a special fund that is being set up to pay travel expenses for families who are visiting female inmates at federal prison facilities.
John Boss II, president of General Office Products, also will buy a full-page ad addressing gambling addiction that will be published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press sports section, according to terms of a sentence that was imposed by U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum.
Also on Thursday, another defendant in the case, Steven Fred Trumble, 50, part owner of the Pub East at 1180 E. Seventh St. in St. Paul, was sentenced to place an ad in the paper that addresses illegal gambling.
"We're trying to hit the education front on a number of different levels, and this is part of that," said assistant U.S. attorney Bill Koch, who prosecuted the cases and helped work out sentencing agreements.
Boss and Trumble also were sentenced to three years of probation that included 60 days of home detention and were ordered to undergo counseling and do community service.
Both men had pleaded guilty to "misprision of a felony," which pertains to being involved in a crime but failing to report it. The offense is unique because it involves the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination and can't be used to prosecute someone in a trial. Instead, it only applies to situations in which the defendant pleads guilty.
The felony in both cases was being involved with illegal gambling and bookmaking.
The two men were among 14 people charged last April in a federal probe of illegal sports gambling operations in St. Paul bars. Twelve of the defendants entered guilty pleas, one was convicted in a trial and one was acquitted.
Walter Awada, 57, convicted in November of six money-laundering offenses, is expected to be sentenced next month. The owner of Awada's on Plato and two other St. Paul restaurants, Awada was accused of laundering money for bookmaker Douglas Sabby by cashing $60,000 in checks that were made out by Boss to settle his gambling debts.
Sabby, 57, of Vadnais Heights, pleaded guilty to 13 felony counts involving bookmaking and was a prosecution witness at Awada's trial — as was Boss.
Last week, Rosenbaum sentenced two others involved in the case who had pleaded guilty: John Joseph Kelly, 71, of St. Paul, who is co-owner of the Depot Bar; and Timothy John Weiss, who runs Gabe's by the Park bar and restaurant in St. Paul.
Neither man received jail time, but Weiss was required to draft a letter about illegal gambling and send it to all liquor license holders in St. Paul. The men also were ordered to pay money to the transportation program for families of female prisoners.
The transportation program was devised by Rosenbaum and other U.S. district judges in Minnesota as a way of addressing a problem peculiar to women who are sent to federal prisons. There are no federal women's prisons in Minnesota, Wisconsin or Iowa. The closest is near Peoria, Ill.
The fund, Koch said, will make it possible for certain families, especially those who are financially strapped and have children, to visit female inmates. The payments by Boss, Weiss and Kelly were the first to be ordered since the fund was established.
The nine remaining defendants in the case, including Sabby and Awada, are expected to be sentenced during the next six weeks, Koch said.