USPS Employee Guilty of Operating a $10 Million Gambling Ring

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the FBI, and the Special Agent-in- Charge of the United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General for the Northeast Area announced that a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employee was found guilty October 25 of conspiring to operate an illegal gambling business throughout USPS facilities, and other government workplaces. According to the evidence presented at trial, and other documents previously filed in Manhattan federal court: From 2005 to 2009, the suspect, who was then a USPS supervisor, along with several co-conspirators who worked at the USPS and other state and local government agencies, operated a "Lotto"-type gambling business ( the "Lottery" ), which tracked the numbers chosen for the New York State Lotto drawings and paid out on a monthly basis prizes in the range of $100,000 and more. Each month, thousands of players paid $20 per entry in the Lottery. "Lottery books," which listed each player's name and the six numbers he or she chose to play per entry, were distributed to players from a central storage facility in Brooklyn. The winner was the first player or players to have all six numbers chosen in the New York State Lotto. During the course of the conspiracy, the suspect and his co-conspirators collected over $10 million dollars in illegal wagers, many of which were collected from USPS employees, as well as employees of the Metropolitan Transit Authority and New York Department of Sanitation. Much of the illegal activity took place on federal government property and during work hours.