Telephone/Internet bookmaker Dennis Atiyeh, charged with 16 counts of operating an illegal gambling service and money laundering, has been acquitted by a Philadelphia federal court jury. In a separate action, his brother Joseph was freed by U.S. District Judge John Padova in a directed verdict, according to published reports.
The two were indicted November 9 for allegedly funneling sports bets through a circuit with outlets in Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Jamaica. The charges in the indictments included reference to the alleged use of funds from Dennis Atiyeh's online sportsbook English Sports Betting, based in Montego Bay, Jamaica, to pay gamblers from the brothers' Pennsylvania gambling business.
Dennis Atiyeh owns the Las Vegas Sporting News, a print and online publication promoting his ESB site. Retired NFL quarterback Jim McMahon is a celebrity spokesman for the site.
Click here to read the indictment, United States of America v. Dennis Atiyeh and Joseph Atiyeh.