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BATON ROUGE, LA (Gambling911.com) - An LSU student was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on charges of gambling, cyberstalking, extortion, unlawful wagering and unlawful telephone communications and harassment.
The Louisiana State Police Gaming Enforcement Division began its investigation of 23-year-old Joseph Contente, who allegedly acted as a bookie and ran an online gambling site called The Vault.
Bets were said to primarily be placed via text, and settled gambling transactions were done through the Venmo and Cash App.
A man claimed he began receiving harassing calls and messages when he could not pay.
Troopers said that when the man lost a bet in December 2025, Contente allegedly agreed to delay the man's payment before he and his family and friends began receiving harassing calls and messages from someone using an alias that authorities were later able to tie to Contente.
Investigators say they discovered 1,906 Venmo debit transactions totaling more than $167,000 and 1,917 credits totaling more than $147,000 between February 2025 and April 2026. Individual transactions ranged from $10 to $1,500, involved people in multiple states, and investigators also identified roughly 100 Cash App transactions between January 2025 and April 2026.
It was not immediately known if Contente had connections to any LSU athletic programs.
Contente posted a $25,000 bond and has since been released.
This is an ongoing investigation.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
