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Former illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer reflects on Nevada’s Black Book and sports betting’s future

September 30, 2026

On a pleasant, 75-degree day at a golf course in Dana Point, California, with the Pacific Ocean in view, ESPN investigative reporter Tisha Thompson learned from two former illegal bookmakers how to talk potential clients into wagering on sports. Mathew Bowyer and Owen Hanson are felons who have recently been released from prison in separate cases that include, for each of them, operating illegal sportsbooks. Thompson is the ESPN reporter who earlier broke the story that Ippei Mizuhara, Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani’s Japanese-language interpreter, placed millions of dollars in illegal sports bets, using Bowyer as his bookie. In California, where ...

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The FBI currently has a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Satinderjeet Singh, aka Goldy Brar. Lawrence Bishnoi’s second-in-command, Brar leads the North American branch of the Bishnoi Mob. Federal Bureau of Investigation

The rise of Lawrence Bishnoi and India’s global organized crime syndicate

Punjabi mobster Lawrence Bishnoi leads a global organized crime network from prison. The Bishnoi Mob is involved in extortion and drug trafficking from New Delhi to Los Angeles. Bishnoi and his lieutenant, Goldy Brar, are both wanted by U.S. authorities and have been implicated in high-profile assassinations, including the 2022 murder of Punjabi rap superstar Sidhu Moose Wala. This is just the latest chapter in India’s long history of organized crime.

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Iron cages separated accused Camorristi from the courtroom during the landmark Viterbo Trial in 1911. In the smaller enclosure sits alleged informer Gennaro Abbatemaggio, whose testimony shattered the traditional code of silence—even as later historians questioned portions of his account. Courtesy Cipollini Collection

Omertà: More than a ‘code of silence’

No English word entirely captures the Mafia concept of “omertà.” The code associated with Italian organized crime is sometimes so…

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Jury convicts Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis in Tupac Shakur murder after years of public admissions

A few pages in a memoir led to a murder conviction for Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who was charged with…

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Reputed Irish drug lord Daniel Kinahan is flown to Dublin to stand trial

After a decade away from Ireland, the accused leader of a global criminal organization is imprisoned back home near Dublin,…

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Benny Binion’s million-dollar gamble lives on 75 years later

On August 14, 1951, Benny Binion opened the Horseshoe Club in downtown Las Vegas. Binion’s Horseshoe would become a cornerstone…

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Peter Gerace Jr., nephew of alleged Buffalo Mob boss Joseph Todaro Jr., is at the center of a drug trafficking case linked to organized crime. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in May and faces another trial in November. Broward County Sheriff’s Department

Recent criminal cases show the Buffalo Mafia never really disappeared

Federal prosecutors reveal how Magaddino crime family endured under the Todaro clan

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On June 17, 1979, Vic Weiss’ body was discovered in the trunk of his Rolls-Royce in North Hollywood, a suspected Mob hit. Associated Press

Jerry Tarkanian’s Lakers coaching contract vanished after a suspected Mob hit

The 1979 murder of Vic Weiss may have cost Jerry Tarkanian the Lakers job. Explore the Mob ties, Tony Spilotro’s alleged role and the enduring cold case.

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