Erstwhile sports betting tout Adam Meyer (pictured) has come up with a surefire two-pronged strategy to battle his federal extortion, fraud and weapons charges: I’m a secret government agent, and I’m batshit insane.
Meyer, who formally headed up the Real Money Sports prediction service, was arrested in December after a client claimed Meyer had threatened him with a gun if he didn’t give Meyer more money. Meyer reportedly extorted over $25m from the victim, since identified as Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin businessman Gary Sadoff, who owns the Badger Liquor Company.
In documents filed with federal prosecutors on Tuesday, first assistant US Attorney Greg Haanstad detailed how Meyer plans to employ the “public authority” defense. Basically, Meyer is claiming that his illegal actions were performed at the behest of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, with whom Meyer claims to have been cooperating.
According to the documents obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Meyer also claims to have been cooperating with illegal sports betting investigations launched by Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and a NCAA Division 1 football team. The feds have rejected Meyer’s claims and demanded that he disclose the names of witnesses he plans to call to testify in his defense.
The second plank of Meyer’s defense appears infinitely more probable yet similarly doomed to failure. Meyer says he shouldn’t be found guilty of his alleged indiscretion because he’s, um, insane. And not as in, my sports picks are insanely accurate, but full-on hand-in-the-jacket Napoleon.
Meyer, who is also facing drug charges in his native Florida, is currently out on $1m bail, although he’s confined to a drug rehab center in that state. We strongly suggest Meyer’s keepers do a close inspection of his quarters in order to obtain his hidden stash of psychedelic substances.
In the meantime, please choose from one of the following videos for the defense strategy you think Meyer’s attorneys will have more luck getting a jury to swallow:
