Florida resident Larry Dayton learned his fate for running two illegal gambling businesses in the Canton, Ohio area. Dayton pleaded guilty in July in U.S. District Court to defrauding the government.
Dayton was sentenced to three years in prison for owning the two skilled games parlors and hiding more than $2 million in revenue. He failed to report that income to the IRS. The judge also ordered Dayton to serve three years of supervised release and pay $938,000 in restitution. He could have been sentenced to up to five years.
The operation ran from 2009 through 2018. Dayton, as well as others, owned and operated the illegal gambling businesses. Dayton said he put the gambling businesses in the names of others to hide his ownership.
Court records showed Dayton stopped operating the business in 2013, but from that time until 2018 he still got a share of the profits.
Dayton also admitted to conspiring with the other owners to defraud the IRS by filing false tax returns.
He wasn’t the only one to be charged in this case—in July, Jason Kachner and his wife both pleaded guilty of defrauding the U.S. government. They will both be sentenced next year, Kachner in May of 2023 and his wife in January.
Three others, Christos Karasarides Jr., Ronald DiPietro, and Karasarides’ nephew, Thomas Helmick, were all charged with felonies related to the illegal gambling business but have all pleaded not guilty. They’ll be back in court on December 29.
