An Alabama man is looking to resolve federal charges after the Department of Justice shut down his online sports betting operation. On Wednesday, 39-year-old Mark Andrew Edmonson reached an agreement with the US Attorney’s Office in Birmingham to plead guilty to a single charge of transmission of wagering information. Edmonson, who has an arraignment set for Sept. 11, faces a maximum fine of $250k and a prison term of up to two years.
According to court documents, Edmonson was taking wagers for three years until the feds shut down his credit betting operation in April. Edmonson ran a consulting firm for sports events but opened his Betkill.net online betting site in July 2011. Edmonson used the site to register wagers but performed all the financial transactions in person by cash or check. It was during one of these transactions with a cooperating witness that Edmonson’s goose was cooked.
As part of his plea deal, Edmonson has agreed to forfeit $67k in proceeds he earned via his online betting setup, as well as all rights to the Betskill.net domain, which has since been shut down. Edmonson’s attorney Tommy Spina told Alabama.com that his client “has reached a resolution with the federal government and looks forward to putting this matter behind him.”
SENIOR CITIZEN PROTESTS FEDS PILING ON
Also looking to put his illegal gambling charges behind him is Minnesota native Gerald Greenfield, who was charged with three counts of illegal betting and money laundering in North Dakota this May. Like Edmonson, Greenfield ran an online credit betting operation although Greenfield’s was far more profitable, reportedly generating annual profits of over $500k. The 68-year-old Greenfield was already in prison on a four-year sentence for money laundering related to a mortgage fraud case in Minneapolis when the feds dropped the gambling charges in his lap.
Greenfield was back in court this week, arguing that the feds were wrong to charge him because doing so conflicts with a plea agreement Greenfield reached with Minnesota state prosecutors in 2010. Greenfield’s attorneys argued that their client had only agreed to the plea deal with the state with the understanding that he wouldn’t face separate gambling charges. Greenfield’s credit betting operation began in 2007 and ran for four years before feds shut it down. Greenfield escaped his Duluth prison in 2013 but was recaptured six days later.
