A former New York police officer has been charged with involvement in an illegal sports gambling operation.
According to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice, Thomas Lewick, 51, of Rochester, New York, was arrested and charged with obstructing a state or local law enforcement investigation and obstructing an official proceeding. The charges carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant US Attorney Megan McGuire said Tuesday that according to the complaint, in October 2020, Homeland Security Investigations joined a joint federal, current and local law enforcement investigation into the illegal gambling business.
One of the companies was an illegal betting operation run through accounts on the sport700.com website. The government said that several members of the business had accessed the site to run and operate the business, violating various New York state laws.
During the investigation, investigators intercepted a series of calls and text messages between targets of the investigation, sub-agents, and individual bettors discussing placing bets, collecting winnings, and paying losses.
On January 3, 2021, a search warrant was executed on one account belonging to an individual identified as Target 1. A review of the account indicated that Target 1 had 16 sub-agents who collectively managed 221 individual betting accounts.
For the duration of the account, from April 2019 through January 2021, Target 1 generated $1,241,172 in earnings. In February 2021, a search warrant was executed on an account belonging to a second target of investigation. Created on April 25, 2016, Target 2 account had 128 sub-agent accounts turning 1,789 individual bettors and $8,945,629 in profit.
During the investigation, the detectives overhear a phone call between Target 1 and Target 2, during which Target 1 says that a New York State trooper named “TJ” has informed him of the ongoing investigation. Then discuss the objectives Change passwords and domain name of the site and erase betting history to avoid detection.
At the time, Loewke was a sergeant in the New York State Police.
