Sports book operator pleads guilty

Monday, April 20, 1998 | 9:57 a.m.

Michael Reeder, 35, who pleaded guilty last week, had been arrested along with four other suspects during a Nevada Gaming Control Board raid just hours before the 1997 NCAA Basketball Tournament.

As 11 GCB agents, backed by five Southern California investigators, forced their way in, they said employees began stuffing documents into paper shredders.

After the arrests, investigators posed as bookmakers and took wagers virtually non-stop from callers as far away as New York.

Investigators say the illegal business took most of its wagers via toll-free phone lines from out-of-state callers. There are licensed casino sports betting operations in Nevada, but only phone bets from within the state are legal.

The others arrested in the raid - Michael Harvin, 30, Nicole Berlandier, 24, and Shannon Dolan, 23, all of Stateline - have pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of messenger betting.

Reeder also faces a forfeiture case brought by the Nevada attorney general's office and the GCB. Among items listed in that complaint are four condominiums, a home, vehicles, and computer equipment confiscated in the raid.

Also, a criminal complaint was filed against Reeder and six other individuals in Orange County Municipal Court.

Investigators believe an illegal bookmaking operation in Cerritos, Calif., was affiliated with the Zephyr Cove business.