Mobtown Beat
Another Cooperator Revealed in Online Gambling Probe
Maryland man is cooperating with "rather extensive undercover operations"
Published: January 13, 2011
Recently released court documents reveal that, in addition to James Davitt, prosecutors in Maryland and New York secured cooperation from another Maryland defendant charged in connection with the ongoing federal probe of the online gambling industry.
Michael Garone, who was charged with money laundering in 2008, pleaded guilty to the charges in January last year, during a sealed proceeding. The transcript of that proceeding, which was held before U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake on Jan. 6, 2010, was made available this week on the public terminals at the federal courthouse in Baltimore.
“Mr. Garone is cooperating” with “rather extensive undercover operations going on,” assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Kay told Blake, according to the transcript. Kay added that there is “some risk to some of the participants” in the probe, in which Garone’s “identification and his cooperation here is being used as a cover.” Thus, he contended, there is “the need to keep this sealed,” because “any possible leak of his actual cooperation probably would endanger the ongoing undercover operation.” Blake responded by saying “that seems like a good and sufficient reason to seal these proceedings, at least for the present,” according to the transcript.
The case against Garone was unsealed in November 2010, and the motion to unseal it stated that his “cooperation is now complete.” On Dec. 20, he was sentenced to one year of probation.
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