Florida Police Bust Illegal Sports Betting Ring

Thomas Welch of Naples, Florida, has been arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for operating an illegal sports betting ring, following a year long investigation.  Welch has been charged with extortion, racketeering, and money laundering, as well as hiring men to go after gamblers who were not able to pay their debts.

The law enforcement stumbled on 48 year old Welch’s operation by chance, while investigating another gambling ring originating from Costa Rica.  During these investigations, an informant drew their attention to Welch’s activities, leading to his eventual arrest.  Welch is being held on a $250,000 bond.

While it wasn’t easy at first to spot Welch’s sports betting operation because his site didn’t look like a gambling site at first, the informant drew the authorities’ attention to a blog that appeared on the site which gave away personal details that made him more easily identifiable.  For example, the blog revealed that Welch was a former navy man and even identified the types of submarines he worked on. It also told anecdotal tales about his dog.

The informant actually owed Welch money and turned on him to avoid having the leader’s men use violence to have the debt returned.  Once the authorities managed to identify Welch, they went through his garbage and found physical evidence of bookmaking activities.  They then sought to make contact with him and sent an undercover agent to meet with him face to face and make bets through his sports betting ring.  During these meetings, the agents recorded the dialogue and managed to capture important evidence which was eventually used against Welch.

It was later revealed the Welch worked with the Greek and Italian mafias in Boston in the 90s, before fleeing to Florida to avoid paying a $2 million fee owed to these groups.