Legendary sports bettor (and convicted felon) Billy Walters is reportedly heading home after securing early release from prison.
Earlier this week, social media was abuzz after a Las Vegas television journalist reported that Walters, who was sentenced to five years in prison in July 2017 after being convicted of securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy, would be released from prison by the end of this week.
On Wednesday, both ESPN and the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Walters would be released from the Federal Prison Camp in Pensacola, Florida – the same institution that once housed disgraced NBA ref Tim Donaghy – on Friday or Saturday. Walters will reportedly be allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence from his home in Carlsbad, California.
The 73-year-old Walters was supposed to have been eligible to apply for a home confinement transfer in January, based in part on his age, as well as the fact that he’s served more than half his sentence and the fact that his crime didn’t involve violence.
There’s been no suggestion that the Pensacola prison has been stricken with the COVID-19 coronavirus, but Walters’ advanced age and his demographic’s known susceptibility to the coronavirus is reportedly a key factor in the decision to allow him to serve the rest of his sentence in a more hospitable environment.
Walters was a renowned betting whale, both in Nevada casinos and at some of the more risk-tolerant internationally licensed online sportsbooks. His fame/infamy was so great that he was the subject of a 60 Minutes profile in 2011 and tout services would illegally claim affiliation with Walters in order to boost their profiles.
Walters was eventually brought down not for betting but for using inside information to trade shares in Fortune 500 company Dean Foods, whose former chairman Thomas Davis was deep in debt (including owing over $1m to Walters). Walters reportedly earned as much as $32m and avoided losses of $11m by trading on info provided by Davis.
Pro golfer and known betting aficionado Phil Mickelson was also involved in the scheme but avoided prosecution by repaying the nearly $1m profit he earned. Walters, who denied his guilt to the end, ultimately blamed Mickelson for his conviction, telling ESPN that Mickelson refused to testify on Walters’ behalf “because he was concerned about his endorsements.”
Walters filed an appeal to have his sentence cut short, arguing that the FBI had leaked details of the case and this convinced Dean’s former chairman to cooperate with prosecutors. The appeal was dismissed and Walters’ bid to have the US Supreme Court hear his case was equally unsuccessful.
