Former Indians Crowe Sentenced to Probation and Restitution

Trevor Crowe, former outfield player of Cleveland Indians from the Major League Baseball (MLB) was sentenced Tuesday to serve 3 years of probation for declaring false tax returns and evading taxes related to illegal gambling.

Evading Illegal Gambling-Related Taxes

US District Judge Patricia Gaughan issued the sentence taking into account the guilty plea the former baseball player he made in September related to a charge of filing false tax return for 2015. Gaughan also ordered 37-year-old Crowe, who apologized before the court and acknowledged his addiction struggles, to pay $85,043 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

In June, Trevor Crowe was charged in federal court after a name of a former baseball player, an alleged co-conspirator in a wide spread illegal gambling ring, popped up in a lawsuit against Clinton Reider. The Mentor-on-the-Lake resident used offshore websites to control and track bets received in the illegal bookmaker operation he was running.

According to the documents filed by federal prosecutors, Crowe and a group of others played a central role in the illegal gambling ring, operating as sub-agents, besides being clients themselves. Sub-agents served as lower-level bookies with their own clients and they paid Reider to get access to the offshore websites.

Documents also showed Trevor Crowe sold a luxury car, a 2010 Porsche Panamera, in April 2014 for a discounted price of $27,919 to partially cover a debt to the gambling ring boss, though no details regarding the car’s condition and value by that time were provided.

Illegal Gambling Ring Unwinding

Patricia Gaughan sentenced Reider, who pled guilty to gambling and tax-related charges, to 2 years in prison last week, besides ordering him to pay $230,714 in restitution to the IRS. Reider also had to pay the government $550,000 to remove a lien placed on his home, valued at more than $600,000, which prosecutors were seeking to take, claiming it was paid for with proceeds of the illegal business.

According to Crowe’s attorney Lee Stein, who also filed letters in support of his client from people who know him from baseball and treatment, dependency on opioids contributed to Crowe’s poor-decision making, but was no excuse for his conduct.

“It appeared as though Mr. Crowe was living the life many have dreamed about. But the sad truth was that the dream became a nightmare when Mr. Crowe suffered an injury and was prescribed OxyContin and other opiates.”

Lee Stein

Among people expressing their support for the former baseball player was a retired coach at the University of Arizona, Andy Lopez, who praised Crowe’s accountability and work ethic, as well as a retired Utah police officer, William Crook, who outlined the player’s honesty during times he dealt with his recovery from the addiction.