<section id="module-position-NIIQ9rsu0y8" class="storytopbar-bucket story-headline-module">[h=1]FDLE arrests head of online gambling ring[/h]</section><section id="module-position-NIIQ9rtg0fE" class="storytopbar-bucket story-byline-module"> Steve Doane, sdoane@news-press.com 1:12 a.m. EDT April 17, 2014
</section><section id="module-position-NIIQ9sktZsU" class="storymetadata-bucket expandable-photo-module"><aside itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" class="single-photo expandable-collapsed">
(Photo: Lee County Sheriff's Office)
</aside></section><section id="module-position-NIIQ9skEmwU" class="storymetadata-bucket story-highlights-module"><aside class="comp story-highlights">[h=3]Story Highlights[/h]
A Naples man arrested last week ran a national gambling ring that circulated hundreds of thousands of dollars and dabbled in violent threats to debtors, according to a state law enforcement warrant.
Thomas Welch, 48, of Poinciana Village was charged last week with multiple racketeering, extortion and money laundering-related charges. The arrest came after agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement raided his home on the 2900 block of Poinciana Drive.
Welch is in custody at the Lee County Jail on $245,000 bond.
In a 24-page affidavit accompanying the arrest, FDLE Special Agent Bryan Waid detailed a nearly year-long undercover investigation into Welch's alleged sports betting ring that employed a web of enforcers, and collected takes from across the country.
Through his website, Alydar653.com, Welch used commercial banks to transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal sports bets into bank accounts he controlled. He also recruited gamblers to act as "agents" tasked with soliciting new bets. When losers didn't pay up, Welch used a web of enforcers to threaten violence, including one man he compared to Hanibal Lecter "he will eat your face off," according to the affidavit.
The website is a mashup of Welch's dog and the number of the submarine he served on during his time with the U.S. Navy, according to the affidavit.
FDLE launched the investigation in June when agents, looking into a sports betting ring out of Costa Rica, connected with a confidential informant, according to the affidavit.
The informant owed Welch $18,000 after another bookie refused to pay winnings and agreed to cooperate with the investigation, according to the affidavit.
FDLE agents initially bolstered their case by digging through Welch's trash where they found handwritten ledgers and wire transfer slips, according to the affidavit.
From there the agents arranged a series of undercover meetings in sports bars and restaurants in Fort Myers and Naples. In the first, the informants wore an audio recording device or "wire." After that, an undercover agent made contact with Welch and began placing bets and working as an agent, according to the affidavit.
During recorded conversations with the undercover agent and informant Welch said he operated the business by recruiting gamblers then turning them into "agents" who solicit more gamblers and collect unpaid debts, according to the affidavit.
Welch told undercover agents and the informant that he became involved with gambling rings in the 1990s through ties to Greek and Italian mafias. While working for these groups in Boston, he racked up a $2 million gambling debt, forcing his move to Southwest Florida, according to the affidavit.
To avoid law enforcement detection, Welch said he incrementally deposited small amounts of money into bank accounts he controlled, which he believed was masked by the wealth in the Naples area, according to the affidavit.
Welch transferred $285,000 between five different accounts in 2013 and said gamblers owed him about $800,000 in unpaid lost bets, according to the affidavit.
To collect these debts, Welch said he relied on a network of enforcers, including a "bad mo fo" from Atlanta named Tony and a group of men from the Dunbar neighborhood of Fort Myers.
"The Fort Myers brothers are dangerous, that's the beauty of it," he told an undercover agent, according to the affidavit.
</section><section id="module-position-NIIQ9sktZsU" class="storymetadata-bucket expandable-photo-module"><aside itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" class="single-photo expandable-collapsed">
(Photo: Lee County Sheriff's Office)
</aside></section><section id="module-position-NIIQ9skEmwU" class="storymetadata-bucket story-highlights-module"><aside class="comp story-highlights">[h=3]Story Highlights[/h]
- FDLE arrested Welch last week on multiple charges relating to online gambling ring that spanned country
- Welch collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in sports bets though website alydar653.com
- Welch compared one debt collector to Hannibal Lector "he will eat your face off."
- Avoided law enforcement by depositing small sums into multiple bank accounts.
A Naples man arrested last week ran a national gambling ring that circulated hundreds of thousands of dollars and dabbled in violent threats to debtors, according to a state law enforcement warrant.
Thomas Welch, 48, of Poinciana Village was charged last week with multiple racketeering, extortion and money laundering-related charges. The arrest came after agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement raided his home on the 2900 block of Poinciana Drive.
Welch is in custody at the Lee County Jail on $245,000 bond.
In a 24-page affidavit accompanying the arrest, FDLE Special Agent Bryan Waid detailed a nearly year-long undercover investigation into Welch's alleged sports betting ring that employed a web of enforcers, and collected takes from across the country.
Through his website, Alydar653.com, Welch used commercial banks to transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal sports bets into bank accounts he controlled. He also recruited gamblers to act as "agents" tasked with soliciting new bets. When losers didn't pay up, Welch used a web of enforcers to threaten violence, including one man he compared to Hanibal Lecter "he will eat your face off," according to the affidavit.
The website is a mashup of Welch's dog and the number of the submarine he served on during his time with the U.S. Navy, according to the affidavit.
FDLE launched the investigation in June when agents, looking into a sports betting ring out of Costa Rica, connected with a confidential informant, according to the affidavit.
The informant owed Welch $18,000 after another bookie refused to pay winnings and agreed to cooperate with the investigation, according to the affidavit.
FDLE agents initially bolstered their case by digging through Welch's trash where they found handwritten ledgers and wire transfer slips, according to the affidavit.
From there the agents arranged a series of undercover meetings in sports bars and restaurants in Fort Myers and Naples. In the first, the informants wore an audio recording device or "wire." After that, an undercover agent made contact with Welch and began placing bets and working as an agent, according to the affidavit.
During recorded conversations with the undercover agent and informant Welch said he operated the business by recruiting gamblers then turning them into "agents" who solicit more gamblers and collect unpaid debts, according to the affidavit.
Welch told undercover agents and the informant that he became involved with gambling rings in the 1990s through ties to Greek and Italian mafias. While working for these groups in Boston, he racked up a $2 million gambling debt, forcing his move to Southwest Florida, according to the affidavit.
To avoid law enforcement detection, Welch said he incrementally deposited small amounts of money into bank accounts he controlled, which he believed was masked by the wealth in the Naples area, according to the affidavit.
Welch transferred $285,000 between five different accounts in 2013 and said gamblers owed him about $800,000 in unpaid lost bets, according to the affidavit.
To collect these debts, Welch said he relied on a network of enforcers, including a "bad mo fo" from Atlanta named Tony and a group of men from the Dunbar neighborhood of Fort Myers.
"The Fort Myers brothers are dangerous, that's the beauty of it," he told an undercover agent, according to the affidavit.
