Sports gambler charged for threatening athletes, family members on social media
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A well-known sports gambler is facing multiple charges after allegedly threatening violence against multiple professional athletes in both Major League Baseball and the National Football League, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Benjamin Tucker Patz - known as "Parlay Patz" in the betting community - is the subject of the criminal complaint and has been charged with transmitting threats in interstate or foreign commerce. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Patz, 23, allegedly used anonymous Instagram accounts to send threatening messages to athletes targeting both the players and their family members, according to the complaint. Some of the messages are also alleged to have contained racial slurs.
Over 300 individual Instagram accounts belonging to either professional athletes or their family members allegedly received threatening messages, according to Dan Sullivan of the Tampa Bay Times.
The complaint specifically cites multiple messages sent after a game between the Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays on July 20, 2019. After the game, which the White Sox won, Patz allegedly sent four Rays players and one White Sox player threatening direct messages on Instagram.
Three players involved were later identified as Chaz Roe, Adam Kolarek, and Emilio Pagan, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Roe is still with the Rays, while Kolarek is now with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pagan is on the San Diego Padres.
"Unfortunately, 0-5 against the Chicago White Sox isn't going to cut it. Because of your sins, I will have to behead you and your family," one message to a Rays player allegedly read.
Players from multiple other MLB teams, including the Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals, and Atlanta Braves, are said to have received similar threats during the 2019 season, according to David Purdum of ESPN and Darren Rovell of Action Network. In one case, the girlfriend of an unidentified Braves player was also allegedly threatened.
"His substantial and persistent online sports wagering suggests that Patz may have threatened athletes who played in games on which he had unsuccessfully wagered and lost money, or that he may have tried to influence the outcome of upcoming sports events on which he had wagered," FBI special agent Daniel Nowak said in an affidavit, according to Purdum.
The complaint also alleges that Patz sent messages to at least two members of the New England Patriots after they won Super Bowl LIII, threatening to rape and murder members of their families, according to Rovell. Patz reportedly bet $10,000 on the Los Angeles Rams, who lost to New England.
College basketball players are also listed in the complaint as allegedly receiving threats, Rovell reports. The complaint refers to all players who allegedly received messages by their initials only.
Patz, who lives in New York, became publicly known after winning over $1 million through sports gambling in the past year.