THREE MEN SENTENCED FOR ILLEGAL GAMBLING, TAX EVASION CHARGES

The lead defendant was involved in an illegal sports-betting operation for at least 10 years.

Two men from Georgia and a third from South Carolina have been sentenced for participating in an illegal gambling operation.

Grady Brandon Mobley, 44, of Waynesboro, Georgia, was sentenced to five years of probation and forfeited $340,084. Mobley also must pay $207,716 in restitution to the IRS and Georgia Department of Revenue.

Daniel Cates, 40, of Waynesboro, Georgia, was sentenced to three years of probation and agreed to forfeit $100,000, and fined $4,000, while Joel Rees Jones, 59, of Greenwood, South Carolina, was sentenced to four years of probation and a fine of $10,000.

Mobley operated as a “bookie” for an illegal sports-betting operation for at least 10 years, at first collecting bets and paying out winnings himself, and later through a sports betting website operated from Costa Rica.

During this period, Mobley admitted to filing false information on his income tax returns to conceal the amount of proceeds from the illegal gambling operation.

“With his long-running illegal gambling operations, Grady Mobley showed utter disregard for the law and compounded the activity by drawing others into his orbit,” Acting U.S. Attorney David H. Estes said in a statement. “These sentences will hold them all accountable for their actions.”