NY Officer Faces Charges of Tipping an Illegal Gambling Operation

The Department of Justice issued a statement Tuesday revealing that Thomas J. Loewke, 51, a Rochester resident, was arrested over allegations of obstructing an investigation.

Ex-cop Allegedly Tips Illegal Gambling Operation about Probe

Loewke used to be a Sergeant with the New York State Police when he was contacted by a Trooper with details regarding an upcoming raid on an illegal gambling ring. Homeland Security Investigations along with other law enforcement agencies were probing into an illegal gambling business of a website called sport700.com. Back in December 2020, a Trooper doing maintenance accessed one of the computers that belonged to officers involved in the investigation.

Consequently, the Trooper contacted Loewke and provided data regarding the investigation. At a later point, the investigators uncovered that Loewke participated in illegal gambling and based on evidence claimed that he tipped one of the targets of interest of the investigation.

As a result, the ex-cop was arrested and charged with obstruction of an investigation, as well as obstruction of an official proceeding, according to the DOJ. If the charges against Loewke are proven and he is sentenced, the maximum penalty is 20 years in prison, as well as a fine of $250,000.

Illegal Gambling Operation with Millions in Profits Taken Down

The names of the people of interest involved in the illegal operation were not released. Instead, the DOJ labeled them as Target 1 and Target 2. The illegal gambling ring accepted bets from customers and had a well-established structure.

Law enforcement executed a search warrant on January 3, 2021, on Target 1, uncovering that the individual had established contact with 16 people that were referred to as “sub-agents” within the illegal operation that managed accounts of 221 bettors. Allegedly, Target 1 was able to accumulate $1,241,172 in illegal gambling profits between April 25, 2019, and January 3, 2021.

On the other hand, upon executing a search warrant on Target 2 in February 2021, investigators uncovered an even bigger network of sub-agents. According to the DOJ, Target 2 had 128 sub-agents that managed 1,789 personal accounts belonging to bettors. This brought Target 2 illegal gambling profits of $8,945,629. The investigation found that Target 2 operated between April 25, 2016, and February 2021.

The criminal investigation was the result of efforts of Homeland Security Investigations in conjunction with the Internal revenue Service, the New York State Police, and other law enforcement agencies that contributed.