Walters charged in illegal sports betting probe

Politically connected golf course entrepreneur Billy Walters was indicted by a Clark County grand jury again today on charges alleging he headed a multimillion-dollar illegal sports betting operation.

Two other indictments had been returned against Walters and his associates in the past but they were ruled to have had procedural and legal problems.

Today's indictment was obtained through evidence presented by Deputy Nevada Attorney General David Thompson, who had obtained the prior two indictments. Charged with Walters in the indictment are computer expert Daniel Pray, Jimmie Jay Hanley and New Yorker John Tognino.

The latest money laundering charges, like the others, allege the betting operation funneled money and information to and from illegal bookmakers across the country.

There are no allegations that Walters and his associates ever acted as bookmakers and took bets on sporting events.

Thompson has said in the past, however, that even placing bets with illegal bookies and transferring the cash across state lines is a crime.

Several years ago, Walters and others stood trial in federal court as part of the so-called "Computer Gang" that conducted a national sports betting operation.

He was acquitted.

One of the earlier state court indictments was dismissed by District Judge Donald Mosley in a hearing that was closed to the public, although the Nevada Supreme Court later ruled he had no authority to toss out the charges.

The second indictment also was dismissed by Mosley because of defense claims that no crime was alleged under Nevada law.

Mosley had ruled that money laundering laws didn't apply because the proceeds of Walters' betting operation were held in casino safety deposit boxes rather than banks.

The prior indictments alleged that proceeds went in and out of a safety deposit box at Binion's Horseshoe hotel-casino that was in Hanley's name but disbursed at Walters' direction.

While copies of the indictment were unavailable at press time, sources indicated the latest charges also claim that banks of phones at Walters' Sierra Sports Inc., were staffed by employees who used code names to access the nationwide network of illegal bookmakers in addition to legal sports books in Nevada.

Much of Walters' operation was conducted from an office complex at 3200 Polaris Ave., where numerous telephone lines had been installed to place wagers at Walters' direction to illegal bookies in various states and countries.

The phone bill for October 1996 -- which was part of the evidence for the earlier indictments -- showed more than 10,000 long-distance calls.

"According to the accounts of this business, Walters had approximately $6.7 million involved in his business of wagering with various illegal bookmakers as of Nov. 17, 1996," the earlier indictments had stated.

Walters has never disputed that he is a professional gambler but has always maintained there is nothing wrong with that.

But Thompson and a Clark County grand jury have disagreed that the way Walters conducts his business is legal.

Today's indictment charges Walters, Hanley, Tognino and Pray with conspiracy and five counts each of unlawful transactions involving monetary instruments -- generally referred to as money laundering -- and unlawful transportation of monetary instruments. The conspiracy count can be a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor but the other charges are felonies.

The grand jury began taking testimony on July 8 and heard additional evidence on Aug. 5, Sept. 30, Nov. 4 and 18 before voting to indict the quartet.

Passwords and code names had to be used to disguise identities and access the illegal books, according to the charges. The pseudonyms included Cigar, Dog, Hill, Island, Horse, Jim, Rack, 1850 and 700, court records indicated.

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