Southern California Bookies: Los Angeles, San Diego
Southern California bookies can stand to make some serious coin thanks to the wealthy clientele that place wagers in this region from San Diego up to Los Angeles and the cities in between.
Top sports teams from this region with significant fan bases include the likes of the San Diego Chargers, UCLA Bruins and both the LA Lakers and Clippers. There is also the USC Trojans, who are among the top 10 teams with the shortest odds to win the College Football Championship. Both the University of Southern California and UCLA are located in Los Angeles.
While California is not known for actively prosecuting bookies and makes their activity a misdemeanor, that hasn’t stopped law enforcement in the region from going after alleged bookmakers.
Most recently in 2012, FBI agents took down what was described as a violent international betting ring that brought in millions over the last decade. There are of course added elements to this case beyond simple bookmaking.
Bookmaking is indeed a violation of California Penal Code Section 337a (1)-(6) and essentially encompasses the act of accepting wagers on a sporting event along with the activities performed in connection with the booking of bets that include such things as owning or renting a location where bookmaking is being conducted as well as the writing down of wagers, or laying off bets or wagers. Much of this can be avoided by utilizing payperhead shops located offshore that are responsible for handling much of the aforementioned responsibilities that had previously been overseen by the bookie himself.
As one might expect, LA has its own power attorney that works in the field of illegal bookmaking and gambling defenses, Kenneth H. Lewis.
He is best known for having argued a case before the California Supreme Court, People v. Leon whereby, pursuant to an investigation into the Arellano-Felix drug trafficking organization, denial of defendants' motions to suppress evidence of the contents and fruits of certain wiretaps is affirmed over claims that the wiretaps violated Pen. Code section 629.52(d) and the Fourth Amendment in that the government's affidavits in support of the applications failed to establish necessity for the wiretaps.
- Mary Montgomery, Gambling911.com
