United States authorities recently indicted 25 people who are believed to have been involved with a massive illegal sports betting ring. Aside from the indictments, $7.6 million, multiple properties and gambling chips were seized in the bust. What's interesting is that this is only the beginning since the sports betting ring is said to have involved several major sites.

Wire Rooms

At the heart of this case are several sports betting websites, which allegedly accepted over $50 million in bets and used illegal payment processors in Costa Rica to do so. The biggest site is definitely PinnacleSports while JazzSports, Wager4You and PlayHera are all under suspicion as well. According to the case brought forth by Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, these four sites were "illegal wire rooms."

Mob Ties

One interesting aspect of the sports betting ring bust is that several of the suspects may be involved with the mob. Vincent Basciano, Jr., Edward Cappucci, Edward Iazzetti and John Tognino are all thought to have mafia ties. It's also worth mentioning that a couple of poker players were arrested too for being bookmakers/money collectors. Paul Sexton, who's got $300k in tournament winnings, and Steve Diano, who's made two WSOP final tables, were both indicted.

Big Job

Due to how extensive this illegal sports betting ring was, Brown recruited the NYPD and FBI to help him execute the indictments. Brown spoke about the case afterward by making the following statement:

The defendants are accused of operating an incredibly lucrative illegal gambling operation – taking in more than $50 million in a year and a half. Such unlawfully earned profits are often, and easily, diverted to more insidious criminal enterprises. Illegal gambling is not a victimless crime. Those who participate in these criminal enterprises often use threats, intimidation, and even physical force to collect debts and oftentimes charge usurious interest rates on outstanding debts.

It's hard telling exactly how long this case will take to be settled. But if it is anything like the online poker Black Friday ordeal, authorities may take years to sort the matter out.