It’s kind of hard to run a drug empire when you have so many people to be in charge of.
A former USC Star athlete named and a ex-NFL player who won three Super Bowls was among 22 people busted in an illegal sports gambling and international drug-smuggling ring, according to the L.A. Times.
Former USC athlete Owen Hanson and Derek Loville — who played with the Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers during an eight-year NFL career — were arrested and indicted for being the heads of a crew known as “ODOG” — selling heroin and meth, laundered millions, operated illegal sports gambling websites, running a network of bookies and violent debt collectors.
Using a network of runners and bookies that spanned both U.S. coasts, wagers were accepted on major football and baseball games. Kenny Hilinski, an expatriate who lived in Peru, was responsible for gambling operations, prosecutors said. He ran several websites such as betodog.com used by bettors, coordinating payments and directing the distribution of proceeds, according to the indictment.
To ensure debts were paid, Daniel Portley-Hanks, a private investigator from Los Angeles, was hired to assist in digging up any information on delinquent gamblers and set up threats, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, Hanson and his associates threatened a customer’s spouse with bodily harm in an attempt to collect an alleged $2.5-million debt.
Hanson, 33, was already in federal custody.
