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Bookmaker sentenced to 18 months in prison

Tuesday, June 13, 2000 | 10:51 a.m.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- A 55-year-old Trumbull man, accused of running an illegal gambling operation for three decades, is going to spend the next 18 months behind bars.

Leslie Buswell, of Trumbull, also was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. He pleaded guilty in March to two federal charges -- structuring financial transactions to evade banking reporting requirements and filing a false federal income tax return for 1995.

U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall on Friday also ordered Buswell to be under the court's supervision for three years following his release from prison. During that time, he will not be able to gamble and must perform 200 hours of community service.

At the sentencing hearing, a federal prosecutor told the court that Buswell has been a sports bookmaker for three decades, and that he had paid a representative of the Gambino Organized Crime Family weekly "tribute" in order to operate as a sports bookmaker.

Buswell replied that being a bookmaker allowed him to be devoted to his four children and volunteer as a youth baseball coach.

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