A sports gambler pleaded guilty to sending death threats to Major League Baseball players and their families in 2019. Benjamin Tucker Patz, who is known as "Parlay Patz," was charged with transmitting threats in interstate or foreign commerce for threatening to kill at least four players on the Tampa Bay Rays.
Prosecutors said that Patz was upset with the poor play of the Rays during a game against the Chicago White Sox on July 20, 2019. The Rays lost the game 2-1 in 11 innings. While the game was still going on, Patz sent direct messages on Instagram to four players on the Rays and one player on the White Sox. In the violent messages, he threatened to murder the players and their families.
"I will enter your home while you sleep" and "I will cut up your family," Patz wrote to one player.
"Everyone you love will soon cease," he wrote to another player.
While the criminal complaint accused Patz of sending threatening messages to over 300 players, the charges and plea agreement only relate to the threats he sent to the players on the Rays. If the court accepts the plea deal, prosecutors said they would not charge Patz with additional crimes.
Patz, who earned more than $1 million betting on sports in 2019, faces up to five years behind bars and a maximum fine of $250,000.
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