8 men agree to plead guilty in federal sports betting scheme

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Eight people who were indicted in a multi-million-dollar excise tax evasion and money laundering scheme involving an illegal sports-betting organization have agreed to plead guilty to federal charges, court records reveal.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 11 defendants, of which six are from Alabama, are accused of operating an organization known as Red44, an illegal sports-betting online organization with an offshore server in Costa Rica.

Over the course of three years, Red44 allegedly took millions of dollars in betting money, but failed to pay excise taxes, according to court records. Prosecutors say between 2019 and 2021, Red44 made a profit of $75 million and failed to pay nearly $20 million in excise taxes.

An 114-count federal indictment was filed in Birmingham in 2022 against the following people who were involved with the sports betting scheme:

• Timothy J. Pughsley, 51, of Birmingham
• Christopher Burdette, 30, of Chelsea
• Nathanael Burdette, 36, of Birmingham
• Jonathan Lind, 44, of Birmingham,
• Thomas V. Zito, 57, of Vestavia
• Christopher Donaldson, 46, of Trussville
• Gary L. Rapp, Jr., 44, of Lakeland, Tennessee
• Mark Giaquinto, 50, of Upton, Massachusetts
• Matthew D. Voorhees, 47, of Englewood, Colorado
• David Richards, 38, of Las Vegas, Nevada
• Joshua Gentrup, 36, of Athens, Georgia

Christopher Donaldson, Christopher Burdette, Nathanael Burdette, Jonathan Lind, Thomas V. Zito, Joshua Gentrup, David Richards, and Matthew D. Voorhees have agreed to plead guilty to charged related to the indictment and pay between $40,000 and $2 million to the IRS, according to court documents.

Three other defendants, including Timothy J. Pughsley who owned Red44, are still expected to go to trial.

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