Canton Man Sentenced To Nearly Two Years In Prison For Laundering Gambling Proceeds

A Canton man was sentenced to nearly two years in prison and ordered to forfeit $28,000 in cash as well as cell phones and computers after he previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder illegal gambling proceeds, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Conrad (Smokey) Everett, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service, Cleveland Field Office.

Christos Karasarides, 48, was sentenced to 22 months in prison. He was also fined $25,000, in addition to the forfeiture ordered by U.S. District Judge James Gwin.

Kararsides conducted a sports bookmaking business by accepting wagers on sporting events, including NFL football, NCAA football, NBA basketball and NCAA basketball games, paying out winnings, collecting losses and collecting a percentage or “vigorish” for each wager placed, according to court documents

Kararsides used off-shore internet gambling services to record and process bets paid by gamblers. He also accepted payments of gamblers’ losses in the name of his business to facilitate the collection and hid the nature of the source of the sports bookmaking activities, according to court documents.

He also pleaded guilty to possession of Oxycodone and was sentenced to one year in prison for that offense, to be served concurrently to the money laundering sentence.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samuel Yannucci and Robert E. Bulford following an investigation by the U.S. Secret Service and the Secret Service Money Laundering Task Force, is a multi- agency group comprised of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations, Ohio Department of Public Safety, Ohio Adult Parole Authority and the Cleveland Police Department.