A Philadelphia probation officer who ran an illegal sports gambling operation for nearly eight years was sentenced to one day in custody, a year of home detention and $200,000 in forfeiture, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Joseph M. Moore, 43, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mark A. Kearney after pleading guilty in October to conducting an illegal gambling business, United States Attorney David Metcalf announced. Moore was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay a $7,200 fine.
Moore owned and operated what prosecutors called the “Moore Gambling Business” from approximately January 2017 to February 2025, during which time he worked as a Philadelphia probation officer. The operation allowed hundreds of bettors to place wagers on sporting events, including individual game outcomes and group gambling pools, according to court filings.
Entry fees for the pools ran as high as $500, generating thousands of dollars for winners. Winners paid Moore roughly 10% of their winnings as a fee for participating, prosecutors said. For standard sports bets, bettors paid a fee built into the cost of the wager.
Co-defendant James P. DeAngelo, 45, a Philadelphia police officer, worked closely with Moore in running the operation, according to court documents. DeAngelo also engaged another individual who provided access to an overseas gambling website, enabling bettors to open accounts with the Moore Gambling Business and place wagers on the offshore platform.
Moore paid DeAngelo as much as 20% of bettor losses as compensation for his role, prosecutors said. DeAngelo also accepted sports wagers directly from gamblers, at times acting as a bookmaker himself and in other instances directing bettors to Moore’s operation.
Over the course of the business, hundreds of bettors collectively wagered hundreds of thousands of dollars on sporting events, according to prosecutors.
Both Moore and DeAngelo pleaded guilty in October of last year to a one-count information charging them with conducting an illegal gambling business. DeAngelo is scheduled to be sentenced April 30.
The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis D. Lappen.
This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times’ AI News Desk team. The contents of this report are based solely on The Washington Times’ original reporting, wire services, and/or other sources cited within the report. For more information, please read our AI policy or contact Steve Fink, Director of Artificial Intelligence, at sfink@washingtontimes.com
The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at aispotlight@washingtontimes.com.
