Parlay Patz Sentenced To 36 Months Of Probation For Threats

Written By JR Duren on June 11, 2021
A federal court sentenced a sports bettor known as

Might as well call him Probation Patz.

A federal court in Florida sentenced Benjamin Tucker Patz, a sports bettor known as “Parlay Patz,” to 36 months of probation after Patz pled guilty to harassing professional athletes on social media, according to ESPN reporter David Purdum.

In a statement to ESPN, Patz’s attorney, David Weisbrod, said Patz expressed remorse over his actions.

“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,” Weisbrod told the network. “He is also grateful for the court’s decision to place him on probation.”

Sentence includes three years of probation, gambling ban

Patz’s sentencing comes in the wake of a guilty plea his legal team filed in February. In that plea, Patz pled guilty to “transmitting a threat in interstate commerce.”

The crime he committed carried the following maximum penalties:

  • Five years in prison
  • $250,000 fine
  • Three years of probation

Considering the scope of available punishments, it’s no surprise Patz expressed his gratitude for probation.

However, the terms of his probation are strict in the sense that, according to Purdum, Patz cannot engage in “gambling, wagering, or other activities, either online or in person.” He will serve six months of home detention and has to enroll in a mental health treatment program, the ESPN article noted.

Patz sent litany of violent messages to ballplayers

Patz’s guilty plea and subsequent sentencing stem from messages he sent from his Instagram accounts to around 307 accounts of “professional or collegiate athletes, or to a family member or significant other of those athletes,” a criminal complaint filed by FBI Special Agent Daniel Nowak noted.

Among the lurid messages Patz sent were racial slurs and threats of violence to the players and their friends and family.

Nowak’s criminal complaint includes several more examples of stomach-turning threats, all of which he discovered through an Aug. 19, 2019, subpoena. The following month, a judge issued a search warrant for two email addresses and three Instagram usernames.

Then, in February 2020, Nowak filed his criminal complaint, concluding there was probable cause to issue a warrant for Patz’s arrest.

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JR Duren

J.R. Duren has covered the gambling beats for more than a dozen states for Catena Media since 2015. His past reporting experience includes two years at the Villages Daily Sun, and he is a first-place winner at the Florida Press Club Excellence in Journalism Contest.

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