A year ago this autumn, Matt Bowyer reported to prison in Southern California for a short stay at FCI Lompoc, a federal penitentiary outside Santa Barbara.
Bowyer, the bookmaker to Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, pleaded guilty to charges in connection with laundering millions at Resorts World Las Vegas. Last week, another bookie ensnared in the Resorts World investigation, was scheduled to be sentenced on comparable charges. Instead, Damien Leforbes, a professional poker player, will have to wait a few more weeks before learning his fate.
At a brief hearing on 15 October, US District Judge Monica Ramirez Almadani pushed Leforbes’ sentencing hearing by nearly two months.
Prior to last week’s sentencing, Leforbes struck an agreement with the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California where prosecutors recommended a period of probation. The joint agreement would spare Leforbes from serving any time in prison.
During a 16-month period through December 2023, Leforbes lost in excess of $10 million at RWLV, according to a 2025 Nevada regulatory complaint. Leforbes, a former baseball player at UNLV, pleaded guilty to money laundering and operating an illegal gambling business in August 2024.
Under the agreement recommended by Kerry Quinn, an assistant US Attorney, Leforbes would spend the first four months of his sentence in home confinement. But Almadani ordered the parties to provide her with additional terms on the agreement before she considers a probationary sentence.
Leforbes is now scheduled to be sentenced on 10 December, a spokesman for the US Attorneys Office for the Central District of California, told iGB. The spokesman did not elaborate further on the reasons for the continuance.
Heavy gambling at Resorts World
While Bowyer and Leforbes were both cited in a 2025 complaint filed by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the two appeared to run separate illegal gambling operations. Under a proposed Stipulation of Settlement with the NGCB, Resorts World Las Vegas agreed to pay a fine of $10.5 million to settle a slew of charges associated with the casino’s anti-money laundering deficiencies. RWLV did not accept any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which was approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission in March 2025.
Over a 16-month period through October 2023, Bowyer visited RWLV on 80 separate occasions, court filings show, where he incurred net losses of roughly $7.9 million. The casino lavished Bowyer with luxury suites, promotional chips and gave him access to a company jet, which he used on a jaunt to a Dallas Cowboys football game. Leforbes, meanwhile, allegedly wagered at least $148 million over an 11-month span, resulting in about $12 million in net losses.
In August 2025, at a Southern California hearing, US District Court Judge John Holcomb sentenced Bowyer to approximately 12 months imprisonment. A contrite Bowyer apologised to the court for his mistakes and vowed to serve as an inspiration for compulsive gamblers and athletes befallen by the trappings of betting. Bowyer served about seven months in FCI Lompoc, before he was transferred to a halfway home in March for good behaviour.
Next steps
Last week, Leforbes was at a hearing inside the Ronald Reagan Federal Building, the same courthouse where Bowyer was sentenced. In a pre-sentencing memo filed in April, attorneys for Leforbes cited Bowyer’s case more than a dozen times. Richard Schonfeld, an attorney for Leforbes, also referenced the Bowyer matter in a memo dated 9 October.
In the joint filing with Quinn, the parties agreed that Bowyer’s sports betting enterprise “operated at a significantly larger scale” and “handled greater sums of money” than the one operated by Leforbes.
At his peak, Bowyer’s operation had more than 700 sports betting clients, an amount that required him to move millions of dollars per week.
By comparison, the size and scope of Leforbes’ sports betting enterprise has not been made public.
As with Bowyer, Leforbes received promo chips, comps and gifts from RWLV, according to the Nevada regulatory complaint.
In addition, Leforbes’ casino host at RWLV apparently knew of his occupation as an illegal bookmaker, the complaint states, and directed business to his enterprise. Multiple sources have described Leforbes as a “good guy” who simply liked to bet heavily.
Orders from the Court
On 1 October, Almadani approved an order that allowed Leforbes to remit an amount in excess of $25,000 to the US Treasury for purposes of his 2025 federal income tax liability. According to the minutes of the 15 October hearing, Almadani ordered the parties to file a briefing addressing the defendant’s aggravated role adjustment.
Separately, she ordered an assigned US Pretrial & Probation Officer to submit a report on the terms and conditions that would apply if she considered a probationary sentence against Leforbes. Both orders must be submitted to the court before the end of November.
In April, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo appointed Schonfeld to the Nevada Gaming Commission to replace outgoing Commissioner Rosa Solis-Rainey.
Since 2025, the NGC has imposed penalties of approximately $34 million against four Strip casinos for AML violations related to Bowyer’s case, most recently a $7.2 million fine in August against The Venetian.
The NGC approved the settlement 3-0, but Schonfeld recused himself. During an August hearing, Schonfeld said the recusal stemmed from the fact that he had represented an individual in a related case that had some overlap with the Venetian investigation.
Leforbes has had his sentencing continued at least five times since January 2025. Schonfeld did not respond to a request from iGB for comment.
Matt Rybaltowski
Matt is primarily responsible for long-form feature coverage on complex sports betting scandals. He also provides coverage on finance, M&A and other technological developments.