A former Pennsylvania business owner was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison on Wednesday for fraud related to funding his sports gambling.
Louis Belletieri, a 44-year-old former title agent, used more than $6 million of client funds for gambling between 2020 and 2023. Court documents did not mention the sportsbooks that allegedly took Belletieri for millions of dollars.
Gambling Harm learned exclusively through his attorney, Josh Karoly, that he had gambled on DraftKings, FanDuel, and Parx. No other details of his sports gambling have been made public.
Belletieri also used Covid-19 pandemic relief funds distributed to his company for personal gambling purposes.
In June 2025, he pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. The father of two had faced up to 40 years in prison. He also received a monetary judgment of $6.1 million.
Lifetime of Gambling
In a sentencing memo, Belletieri’s attorney described his lifelong relationship with gambling.
“Mr. Belletieri’s family exposed him to gambling and the glitz and glamour of it at a young age. Both his father and uncle were involved in the hotel and hospitality management/food and beverage industry for casinos in Atlantic City, and Mr. Belletieri spent significant time in that environment. He may not have known it then, but his addiction started at that young age. Gambling had always been a part of his life, and the numbers he wagered became larger as his [business] success was able to fuel his addiction. The Covid pandemic and the ease with which online sports gambling was introduced to our society were a perfect storm for Mr. Belletieri’s downfall.”
There were at least 15 victims of his fraud. In the sentencing memo, Belletieri’s lawyer described him as a family man with immense remorse for his crimes. Dozens of family and friends asked the court to give him a lenient sentence.
Studies show that, on average, 8 to 10 people around a person with gambling addiction experience harm. In Belletieri’s case, like others involving embezzlement or other criminal activity, it is a great many more.
In October 2025, Family and Friends of Gamblers (FFOG) was launched to provide a voice to the people harmed by state-sanctioned online gambling. People interested in joining FFOG can visit the group’s contact form or email FFOG@HurtByGambling.org.
Belletieri’s state is among the largest sports gambling markets in the country. Since the launch of Pennsylvania sports betting in 2018, residents and visitors have bet more than $40 billion. That’s according to state data compiled by Legal Sports Report.
Another Addiction Case Involving DraftKings PA
It’s unclear how much DraftKings took from Belletieri, but his case is the third high-profile addiction case involving the company in recent months.
In July 2025, DraftKings agreed to a settlement with a Pennsylvania psychiatrist who had lost $190,000 on the platform.
Just two months later, in September, a former secretary of a rural Pennsylvania township received prison for using about $300,000 in public funds for gambling on DraftKings.
In April 2025, a Chicago-based law firm filed a class-action lawsuit against DraftKings on behalf of five Pennsylvania plaintiffs.
The sports gambling company is facing lawsuits in several other states.
Back in 2024, a former financial controller at a Pennsylvania HVAC business received prison for a $1.5 million embezzlement to gamble on DraftKings, FanDuel, and other state-sanctioned platforms.
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