A former New York state trooper accused of tipping off the target of a sweeping gambling probe is nearing a plea deal with federal prosecutors.
Thomas Loewke appeared in federal court Tuesday, where his attorney and a federal prosecutor said they are in the final stages of ironing out a plea agreement. No details were provided about what crimes Loewke would admit to under a plea.
Loewke was criminally charged in January, accused of obstruction of justice. He retired in August, in the midst of the investigation.
Loewke is now scheduled to return to court in May.
Prosecutors allege that in December 2020 a computer technician with the state police was working on one of the investigators’ computers and saw documents related to the investigation, including one of the targets’ names, on his desk.
Knowing Loewke had a gambling habit, the technician allegedly alerted him to the investigation. Prosecutors allege that Loewke then warned the target.
More than a month after Loewke’s arrest, federal authorities charged seven local men with allegedly running a gambling operation that took bets on sporting events and hosted illegal poker games in an office suite in the city of Rochester.
Accused are Louis P. Ferrari II, Dominic Sprague, Tommaso Sessa, Anthony Amato, Joseph Lomardo, Joseph Boscarino and James Cilvetti. Ferrari allegedly ran an online betting operation, sport700.com, and prosecutors say that Loewke sometimes placed wagers through the site.
Prosecutors allege that the gambling operation had 221 users and generated $1.2 million from April 2019 to January 2021.
With the State Police, Loewke, who retired as a sergeant, built a reputation for nabbing drunken drivers. In 2015 he was recognized by the county’s DWI prevention program after making the most State Police drunken driving arrests in the region for 10 consecutive years. In a Facebook post, the State Police commended him for “undoubtedly saving the lives of many New Yorkers.”
In-person sports wagering at licensed casinos has been legal in New York since 2019, and in 2022, mobile sports wagering through certain licensed platforms became legal in the state. However, unlicensed bookmaking, whether in person or online, has been and remains illegal in the State of New York.
(Includes reporting by staff writers Justin Murphy and Sean Lahman)
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Former NY state trooper close to plea deal in gambling probe tip-off case