A young bettor who achieved fame for hitting big parlays has pleaded guilty to making threats to the players who compromised his bets.
Ben Patz, known in the industry as "Parlay Patz", pleaded guilty to "transmitting threats in interstate or foreign commerce" on Feb. 15, but the U.S. Department of Justice announced the agreement on Wednesday.
Patz, arrested on March 5, 2020, faces a maximum of five years in jail for his crime.
The plea by Patz, 24, comes nearly a year to the day that Patz turned himself into a federal marshal after he was accused of threatening to harm athletes and their families through direct messages on Instagram.
The complaint alleged that Patz messaged a Pepperdine basketball player after a win that his "throat will be severed open with a dull knife" and that his "entire family will be beheaded and burned alive."
The complaint also said that after Patz bet $10,000 on the Rams to win the Super Bowl, and they lost to the New England Patriots, Patz allegedly sent a direct message to a Patriots player with the initials J.E. (likely Julian Edelman) that he would “rape and murder your entire family." Edelman caught 10 passes for 141 yards en route to the game’s MVP.
But the messages that resulted in Patz getting charged happened on July 20, 2019.
That day, the Tampa Bay Rays lost a game, 2-1, to the White Sox.
Patz pled guilty to sending messages to pitchers Emilio Pagan, Adam Kolarek and Chaz Roe, who were responsible for giving up the two runs.
Patz also sent a message to Rays left fielder Tommy Pham, who went 0-for-5.
Patz wrote to Pagan that he would kill his family by cutting them up and dismembering them alive.
The Rays brought the threats to the attention of their local FBI office and cooperated with the investigation, in which Patz admitted to sending the direct messages while the game was still in play.
The Action Network profiled "Parlay Patz," and his $1.1 million in winnings at William Hill in a 50-day time period
Upon his arrest, William Hill announced it was cooperating with the investigation.
