Last man in Tennessee gambling scheme sentenced to 30 months
The fifth man in an illegal sports betting ring has been named by the FBI. LaVonte Holmes, 24, was found to have been involved with the ring between 2022 and 2024.
It’s reported that the scheme would involve abusing stolen identities to conduct bets on vulnerable platforms. Birth dates, Social Security numbers, and more were acquired from online sources, such as the deep web, which regularly hosts reams of stolen data.
Holmes has now been sentenced to prison and will serve the second-longest sentence of the five individuals. He’s been sentenced to 30 months, double that of Lawrence Williams and five times that of two of his other co-conspirators.
The five individuals are:
- Lucas Gilliam, 25, sentenced to 36 months
- LaVonte Holmes, 24, sentenced to 30 months
- Lawrence Williams, 22, sentenced to 15 months
- Nathan Penaflor, 23, sentenced to 6 months
- Joshua Penaflor, 22, sentenced to 6 months
None of the five will be able to get parole, as there isn’t that option at the federal level in the United States.
Speaking in the press release, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said:
“With new and ever-changing technology, applications, and platforms, criminals are using more creative and disturbing ways to commit fraud against vulnerable victims, including identity theft. For these thieves, their bets did not pay off, and were instead parlayed into prison sentences.”
The sentencing has been particularly harsh on Holmes and Gilliam, as it was uncovered that they would travel between states to conduct their scam. They would leave Tennessee in an attempt to grow the scheme.
As such, Chief United States District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman threw the book at all five, who pled guilty to aggravated identity theft, as well as unauthorized use of an access device.
Without parole, Holmes and Gilliam won’t be out of prison until sometime in 2028. The two Penaflors will be out this year, while Williams will be behind bars until 2027.
Featured Image: Via HAL333 on Wikimedia Commons
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