Sports bettor Ben “Parlay” Patz has been sentenced to 36 months probation for sending threatening messages to athletes and their families, according to court documents obtained by MarketWatch. Patz pleaded guilty in March to transmitting threats in interstate or foreign commerce.
As part of the probation, Patz will be barred from “engaging in any activities that involve gambling, waging, or other betting activities, either online or in person.”
According to the
United States District Court criminal complaint, the 24-year-old Patz threatened athletes via direct message on Twitter
TWTR,
-0.23%
and Instagram
FB,
-0.97%.
See also: New York officially approves legal online sports betting
One group of Instagram DM’s Patz sent to an unnamed baseball player for the Atlanta Braves included “I’ll behead you and your family” and “I’ll sever your neck open with a dull knife.”
Other messages listed in the complaint were to an unnamed Pepperdine University college basketball player in March 2019 that included, “your entire family will be beheaded and burned alive” and “I will enter your home as you sleep and kill you.”
Patz went on a $1.1 million hot streak over a 50-day period in 2019. His nickname comes from a bet known as a “parlay,” which is when you combine several individual bets into one.
MarketWatch reached out to Patz’s attorney, David Weisbrod, but didn’t immediately hear back. Weisbrod said the following in a statement to ESPN:
“In open court this morning, Mr. Patz expressed remorse for his actions and the hurt he caused and apologized to anyone who received one of his messages or was otherwise adversely affected by them. He is also grateful for the court’s decision to place him on probation. Other than that, there will be no other comments.”
See also: Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski to retire after next season
Sports betting stocks have seen a downturn lately after spiking in 2020.
Over the past three months, DraftKings
DKNG,
-2.33%
is down 24.8% and Penn National Gaming
PENN,
-0.58%
is down 31.2% while the The Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF
BETZ,
-1.80%,
a tier-weighted index of global sports betting & iGaming companies, is down 0.04% as of Thursday afternoon.
