Illegal Southern Gambling Ring Trio Sentenced in Georgia
Three men from the Deep South were sentenced for illegal gambling operations in Georgia. They were given a combined forfeiture and restitution of over $650,000.
Grady Brandon Mobley, 44, of Waynesboro, Georgia, pleaded guilty to an Information charging him with Prohibition of an Illegal Gambling Business and Fraud and False Statements. He was sentenced to five years' probation, a forfeiture of $340,084, restitution of $207,716, and a $2,000 fine.
Mobley's homeboy Daniel Cates got three years' probation, a $4,000 fine and a forfeiture of $100,00. Joel Rees Jones, 59, received four years of probation and $10, 000 fine. Mobley ran a book for an illicit sports gambling operation for at least 10 years in North Carolina's Burke County.
Mobley, Jones and Cates were sentenced for their involvement in illegal gambling ring. They were caught after they merged their racket with a smaller gambling racket run by Waynesboro's Cate. The FBI division in Atlanta took to Twitter to share special agent Chris Hacker's assertion.
Mobley and Greg Paloian filed false tax returns to hide the earnings from their illegal gambling activities. The former Chicago mob bookie was due to be sentenced in May, but he was granted a year's delay due in part to his cancerous brain tumor.