Posted on: April 30, 2021, 03:56h.
Last updated on: April 30, 2021, 04:31h.
Sports bettor Rob Gorodetsky, whose brash, showy Instagram persona once got him featured in USA Today as the “future face of sports gambling,” was sentenced to 28 months in prison Thursday for wire fraud.
The 2017 USA Today profile described Gorodetsky as one of the “most compelling and controversial” figures in sports. He hung out with celebrities and beautiful women, the newspaper explained. He drove fast cars, while “winning and losing millions of dollars” in what he called “BigRobStyle.”
But a federal court in Chicago heard during his trial that this persona was largely the invention of a once painfully shy kid from the city’s affluent North Shore suburbs.
Living Meme
According to his lawyers, Gorodetsky moved to Las Vegas to reinvent himself, whereupon he transformed into a “living meme.” Defense lawyer Chris Gair argued “BigRobStyle” was living a lie. And Gorodetsky’s sports betting prowess was a lie, too.
The USA Today profile caught the attention of the FBI and the Nevada Gaming Commission, which launched investigations into Gorodetsky. In January 2020, the FBI charged him with bilking a single investor out of $9.6 million between 2014 and 2018.
The victim is described in court documents as a successful New Jersey…
