Gambling Ringleader Arrested after 13 Years in Caribbean
A fugitive accused of running an offshore betting operation have been arrested, 13 years after being indicted by a Boston grand jury.
Richard Sullivan, who is now 73-years-old and lives in Antigua, was arrested while being processed in customs after arriving at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City.
Sullivan was indicted in 2010 for leading a “large-scale illegal gambling business which utilized an Antiguan Internet site but operated in the continental United States” according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The indictment was handed down when sports betting was illegal in every state except Nevada.
Sullivan’s 2010 indictment marked one of the first prosecutions under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006.
The federal law prohibits a gambling business from “knowingly accepting payments in connection with the participation of another person in a bet or wager that involves the use of the internet and that is unlawful under any federal or state law.”
Prosecutors say Sullivan and three co-conspirators operated a website called Sports Offshore, conducting an illegal gambling business that stretched from Massachusetts to Florida. The site allegedly used a website and phone registered in Antigua to serve U.S. customers, employing dozens of agents in the U.S. to solicit customers and collect debts, with the illegal proceeds forwarded to Antigua.
Sullivan is accused of managing the website from an office in St. John’s, Antigua, where he allegedly supervised employees that accepted wagers from customers in the U.S. and directed collection activities.
In total, Sullivan and his co-conspirators allegedly collected over $22 million for Sports Offshore through the illegal gambling operation and laundered more than $10 million in checks and wire transfers.
Two of the co-defendants were convicted at trial in 2011 and served sentences. They also had to forfeit more than $30 million combined.
Sullivan faces over 75 charges including racketeering (RICO), operating an illegal gambling business, transmission of wagering information, money laundering, and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.