The US federal court has sentenced Frank Potolicchio to four months in prison to go with three years of supervised release after it was determined that he was involved in an illegal sportsbook operation based in Costa Rica.
According to a report filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the 34-year old Potolicchio was found guilty of being a part of a large-scale illegal online sportsbook operation that ran its business out of the towns Stamford and Hamden in Connecticut. The FBI report also indicated that the websites, which includes “www.44wager.com”, were all based in Costa Rica and were being controlled by the Gambino crime family.
In addition to Potolicchio, 19 other individuals were charged with their involvement in the operation, which were all discovered after a lengthy joint investigation involving the FBI Fairfield County Organized Crime Task Force, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation unit, and the Stamford Police Department.
After careful scrutiny and analysis, the FBI determined that the illegal online sportsbook that Potolicchio was a part an operation that generated a gross gaming revenue of about $1.7 million, from the time between October 2010 and June 2011.
It’s going to be a rough couple of months for Potolicchio as he is set to spend the next four months of his life in the can, in addition to effectively being under the crosshairs of law enforcement officials for the next three years. If that isn’t enough, U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford, Connecticut, also ordered the man to fork over a total of $100,000 for his indiscretions. He did admit to being guilt of one count of operating an illegal gambling business back in February, which makes his punishment befitting of the crime he committed.
