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A lawyer who tried to kill a noted sports handicapper three times has been sentenced to prison, Gambling 911 can exclusively report.
On Friday in Lehigh County Court in Allentown, Pa., attorney Robert Creem, 70, of Whitehall, Pa., received a prison sentence of 9 to 23 months from Judge Kelly Banach for attempting three times in the past year to run over with his car the well-known sports handicapper and radio host Dale "The Philly Prince" Stickel, also of Whitehall.
Creem has been in Lehigh County Prison in Allentown for the past six months, unable to raise $250,000 bail stemming from the charges.
He will be credited with time served, meaning he could serve as few as three more months in prison or as many as 17 more months, depending on his behavior during incarceration.
He will continue serving time in Lehigh County Prison.
Stickel was in court Friday along with Creem, Creem's attorney and the Lehigh Country deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case, for the sentencing.
Prior to the sentencing, Stickel met with the judge to give a victim's impact statement, explaining how he has been negativley affected by Creem's attempts to kill him.
Creem in an earlier court appearance confessed to the crimes, blaming them on "mental illness" and his failure to take medication that was prescribed for him.
During one of Creem's attempted run-downs in 2016, Stickel was walking a pet cat near the condo complex where both men resided and had to jump out of the way of Creem's car at the last second to avoid being hit, dragging the frightened feline along with him out of harm's way.
On two other occasions Creem also unsuccessfully tried to run over Stickel outside the complex and the nimble-footed handicapper had to also jump out of the way.
Creem and Stickel have a personal feud that dates back years, Stickel told Gambling 911 after the sentencing.
"He doesn't like me and I don't like him," Stickel said. "I only wish he would have received a longer prison term. But I've got my gun, a new Magnum .357 I just bought, and I will be ready for him if he tries to come at me again after he gets out."
Stickel emphasized to Gambling 911 that Creem's beef with him has nothing to do with sports handicapping or gambling.
"This is not about him buying picks from me and the picks losing, or anything like that," Stickel said. "It's about neighbor issues and condo issues. He is not and has never been a customer of mine. I want to make that clear.
"There are rumors going around that he was a disgruntled customer but that's not the case. I wouldn't take that nut case on as a customer for any amount of money."
Stickel has been a sports handicapper for more than 30 years and operates the 'capping website Atlantic City Odds at acodds.us.
He has hosted or co-hosted numerous radio shows about sports handicapping over the years, including the long-running, nationally-broadcast Las Vegas Sporting News Radio Show, which he co-hosted with former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon.
In addition, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Stickel helped run English Sports Betting (ESB), an offshore sportsbook based in Jamaica that was one of the first offshores in the industry but is now closed.
By Tom Somach
Gambling 911 Staff Writer
