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CHICAGO (AP) — A northern Illinois man who pleaded guilty to running a sports betting operation that involved a mayor pardoned by former President Donald Trump was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall in Chicago sentenced Vincent “Uncle Mick” DelGiudice to prison and also ordered the Orland Park man to pay a significant amount of forfeiture, including a $3.5 million money judgment, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Kendall pronounced the sentence after noting that DelGiudice’s gambling ring reached into Illinois State University and involved the corruption of at least two police officers
Before he was sentenced, DelGiudice apologized to the judge and his family, saying, “What I did was wrong.”
DelGiudice pleaded guilty in February 2021 to gambling conspiracy and money laundering charges, admitting that he ran the large bookmaking business from 2016 to 2019 in and around Chicago.
Prosecutors alleged that he paid a Costa Rica-based sportsbook a service fee of $10,000 a week to use its online platform and recruited gamblers to place wagers on his website. He allegedly hired people to act as agents and attract gamblers as well as collect on debts.
DelGiudice’s sentencing comes near the end of a case federal prosecutors said involved roughly 1,000 gamblers and millions of dollars.
Casey Urlacher, the mayor of the tiny Chicago suburb of Mettawa, was among those charged in the gambling ring. Urlacher, the brother of Chicago Bears standout linebacker Brian Urlacher, was among those pardoned by President Donald Trump in January 2021 the final hours of Trump's term.
