Roenick paid Fla. firm for sports betting tips
By Joseph Tanfani, Mark Fazlollah and Tim Panaccio, Inquirer Staff Writers
As investigators sifted through mounds of evidence from a Florida sports-gambling operation, they were startled to recognize the name of one of the firm's big clients - Philadelphia Flyers star Jeremy Roenick.
They found records showing that Roenick, one of hockey's standout players for a decade, was paying large sums to National Sports Consultants, an operation that made millions by selling sports betting tips to gamblers, law enforcement officials said.
Roenick paid the firm "somewhere north of $100,000," said Lee County Sheriff's Capt. Mike Johnston, who worked with the FBI on the case.
Eleven of the firm's handicappers, or "touts," have pleaded guilty to federal gambling charges. They got in trouble for falsely claiming to have inside information about games and for taking kickbacks from offshore Internet casinos.
After the FBI raided the Fort Myers-based service in April, investigators started asking questions about Roenick, trying to find out whether he had bet on the Flyers or any other hockey team. They dropped their inquiry after finding no evidence that he had.
"He never became a target of the investigation, and we at no time developed any information that he was involved in any illegal activity," Johnston said.
In an interview with The Inquirer on Friday, Roenick acknowledged that he was a client of the firm and had bet on sports for years, even before he joined the Flyers. But he disputed the $100,000 figure, saying he had paid the Fort Myers operation much less for tips. He said his total bets were between $50,000 and $100,000.
"I enjoyed it, but I don't think I had a problem," Roenick said. "I shut it off cold turkey."
Roenick said he stopped gambling in January after a warning from Flyers general manager Bob Clarke, who had heard locker-room chatter that Roenick was betting on sports. Roenick said the Flyers did not know about his association with the Fort Myers service.
Still, Roenick said he maintained a friendship throughout the spring with one of the touts, former Philadelphia resident William Gebig.
Six weeks after Gebig and others were arrested in the raid, Roenick set aside tickets for Gebig to the Flyers' Eastern Conference finals games against the Lightning in Tampa. In May, he gave an interview about his friend to a Fort Myers paper, praising Gebig for teaching him martial-arts techniques.
Roenick said he was not aware of the arrests then.
Two of the touts said in separate interviews that Roenick continued to use the tip service into the spring, a contention Roenick vigorously disputed.
Capt. Johnston said only that Roenick's bets were all made within the year prior to the operation's closing.
Unlike the National Football League, the National Hockey League does not ban players from betting on team sports - as long as it's not hockey - or associating with gamblers.
But industry watchdogs and other sports-league executives say the integrity and the image of sports are at risk when players rub elbows with gamblers or handicappers.
Even if players do not bet on their own performance, they might pass on information about their teams, they say.
"Anytime you have a player associating with anyone like that, there's a clear belief the player may be giving the person inside information," said Derrick Crawford, a counsel for the NFL who deals with gambling policy.
"They may know something about their team - marital problems, health issues. They have information the general public doesn't have and that may affect a gambler's chances in a material way," said Crawford, speaking generally and not about Roenick.
Roenick said he never talked to the touts about hockey.
Clarke and the NHL declined to comment on Roenick's gambling.
In separate interviews with The Inquirer, six of the Fort Myers touts described Roenick as a major client of the firm. They said Roenick paid for tips on football and basketball.
The money Roenick spent with the handicappers went strictly for betting tips, according to law enforcement and company employees, and does not include any money Roenick wagered on games.
The Fort Myers investigators said they did not find evidence showing how much Roenick actually bet.
"We considered him a good player, a real good player," said Daniel T. Biancullo, one of the touts who has pleaded guilty to the federal charges.
"The guy liked action, that's it," Biancullo said in an interview. "He enjoyed it, he enjoyed the high. I don't think the guy is guilty of anything except liking to bet on football."
Talkative and accessible, Roenick, 34, is one of Philadelphia's most recognizable and popular athletes. A hard-hitting center who played with the Chicago Blackhawks and Phoenix Coyotes before joining the Flyers in 2001, he is due to earn $7 million next season.
Roenick has parlayed his ease with reporters and square-jawed good looks into a lucrative endorsement sideline, pitching such products as Toyotas and video games. He signed for a job with ESPN giving commentary during the forthcoming World Cup hockey tournament.
Roenick's agent and attorney, Neil Abbott, said Roenick was attracted by the culture of gambling that surrounds professional sports, especially football.
"People get sucked into it," Abbott said. "Jeremy did something stupid and he won't be involved in this in the future."
William Daly, the NHL's chief legal counsel, said the league tries to educate players about the dangers of gambling. But legal sports bets - such as those placed in Nevada betting parlors - would not violate league policy, Daly said.
"Just betting on a football game on a Sunday afternoon, I don't think that would trigger that," he said, speaking generally and not about Roenick's case. League rules also would not necessarily prohibit dealings with a handicapping service, he said.
By Joseph Tanfani, Mark Fazlollah and Tim Panaccio, Inquirer Staff Writers
As investigators sifted through mounds of evidence from a Florida sports-gambling operation, they were startled to recognize the name of one of the firm's big clients - Philadelphia Flyers star Jeremy Roenick.
They found records showing that Roenick, one of hockey's standout players for a decade, was paying large sums to National Sports Consultants, an operation that made millions by selling sports betting tips to gamblers, law enforcement officials said.
Roenick paid the firm "somewhere north of $100,000," said Lee County Sheriff's Capt. Mike Johnston, who worked with the FBI on the case.
Eleven of the firm's handicappers, or "touts," have pleaded guilty to federal gambling charges. They got in trouble for falsely claiming to have inside information about games and for taking kickbacks from offshore Internet casinos.
After the FBI raided the Fort Myers-based service in April, investigators started asking questions about Roenick, trying to find out whether he had bet on the Flyers or any other hockey team. They dropped their inquiry after finding no evidence that he had.
"He never became a target of the investigation, and we at no time developed any information that he was involved in any illegal activity," Johnston said.
In an interview with The Inquirer on Friday, Roenick acknowledged that he was a client of the firm and had bet on sports for years, even before he joined the Flyers. But he disputed the $100,000 figure, saying he had paid the Fort Myers operation much less for tips. He said his total bets were between $50,000 and $100,000.
"I enjoyed it, but I don't think I had a problem," Roenick said. "I shut it off cold turkey."
Roenick said he stopped gambling in January after a warning from Flyers general manager Bob Clarke, who had heard locker-room chatter that Roenick was betting on sports. Roenick said the Flyers did not know about his association with the Fort Myers service.
Still, Roenick said he maintained a friendship throughout the spring with one of the touts, former Philadelphia resident William Gebig.
Six weeks after Gebig and others were arrested in the raid, Roenick set aside tickets for Gebig to the Flyers' Eastern Conference finals games against the Lightning in Tampa. In May, he gave an interview about his friend to a Fort Myers paper, praising Gebig for teaching him martial-arts techniques.
Roenick said he was not aware of the arrests then.
Two of the touts said in separate interviews that Roenick continued to use the tip service into the spring, a contention Roenick vigorously disputed.
Capt. Johnston said only that Roenick's bets were all made within the year prior to the operation's closing.
Unlike the National Football League, the National Hockey League does not ban players from betting on team sports - as long as it's not hockey - or associating with gamblers.
But industry watchdogs and other sports-league executives say the integrity and the image of sports are at risk when players rub elbows with gamblers or handicappers.
Even if players do not bet on their own performance, they might pass on information about their teams, they say.
"Anytime you have a player associating with anyone like that, there's a clear belief the player may be giving the person inside information," said Derrick Crawford, a counsel for the NFL who deals with gambling policy.
"They may know something about their team - marital problems, health issues. They have information the general public doesn't have and that may affect a gambler's chances in a material way," said Crawford, speaking generally and not about Roenick.
Roenick said he never talked to the touts about hockey.
Clarke and the NHL declined to comment on Roenick's gambling.
In separate interviews with The Inquirer, six of the Fort Myers touts described Roenick as a major client of the firm. They said Roenick paid for tips on football and basketball.
The money Roenick spent with the handicappers went strictly for betting tips, according to law enforcement and company employees, and does not include any money Roenick wagered on games.
The Fort Myers investigators said they did not find evidence showing how much Roenick actually bet.
"We considered him a good player, a real good player," said Daniel T. Biancullo, one of the touts who has pleaded guilty to the federal charges.
"The guy liked action, that's it," Biancullo said in an interview. "He enjoyed it, he enjoyed the high. I don't think the guy is guilty of anything except liking to bet on football."
Talkative and accessible, Roenick, 34, is one of Philadelphia's most recognizable and popular athletes. A hard-hitting center who played with the Chicago Blackhawks and Phoenix Coyotes before joining the Flyers in 2001, he is due to earn $7 million next season.
Roenick has parlayed his ease with reporters and square-jawed good looks into a lucrative endorsement sideline, pitching such products as Toyotas and video games. He signed for a job with ESPN giving commentary during the forthcoming World Cup hockey tournament.
Roenick's agent and attorney, Neil Abbott, said Roenick was attracted by the culture of gambling that surrounds professional sports, especially football.
"People get sucked into it," Abbott said. "Jeremy did something stupid and he won't be involved in this in the future."
William Daly, the NHL's chief legal counsel, said the league tries to educate players about the dangers of gambling. But legal sports bets - such as those placed in Nevada betting parlors - would not violate league policy, Daly said.
"Just betting on a football game on a Sunday afternoon, I don't think that would trigger that," he said, speaking generally and not about Roenick's case. League rules also would not necessarily prohibit dealings with a handicapping service, he said.
