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The operator of a sports bookmaking business was sentenced to 33 months in prison Thursday for running an illegal gambling operation and hiding more than $1.2 million in earnings from the government.
As part of his plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Joseph “Pooch” Pascucci, 72, of Wheeling handed over checks totaling $935,000, a share of his gambling profits.
“All I can say is I’m guilty,” Pascucci told U.S. District Senior Judge James Moran. “I gambled all my life.”
Cynthia Holst, 47, of McHenry, a longtime friend of Pascucci’s, was sentenced to 6 months of home detention and 3 years of probation for assisting in the gambling operation.
