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A billion-dollar sports gambling operation based out of San José, Costa Rica may be out of luck after United States authorities arrested the men they say are the brains behind the illegal gambling scheme.

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Thursday’s wide-reaching, 57-count indictment from Brooklyn, New York District Attorney Ken Thompson alleges that four men from California and New York promoted illegal gambling through a large network of sportsbooks with an office headquartered in Costa Rica.

Online sports gambling is legal in Costa Rica but not in the U.S.

Defendants Gordon Mitchnick, 58; Joseph Schneider, 39; Arthur Rossi, 66; and Claude Ferguson, 43, were charged with enterprise corruption, first-degree promoting gambling, second-degree possession of gambling records and fifth-degree conspiracy. If convicted, they could spend up to 25 years in prison.

Prosecutors said that the California-native Mitchnick, whose bail was set at $2 million at an arraignment Wednesday, was the head of the operation. According to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, the network of offshore sportsbooks included WagerABC, The WagerSpot and Hustler 247, which Mitchnick and fellow defendants began operating in April 2015.

Mitchnick is alleged to have accepted sports wagers from thousands of betters through the gambling-based websites. According to authorities, the operation accepted $927 million in bets just on NFL games during the most recent 2015-2016 season.

District Attorney Thompson called the gambling operation “possibly the biggest ever to be dismantled by a local prosecutor’s office.”

The DA said Mitchnick had a main office, called a “wireroom,” in San José, where up to $200,000 was sent every month to pay for employee salaries, rent and other operating expenses. Evidence showed that Mitchnick regularly stayed in contact with his Costa Rican-based staff through email and WhatsApp, according to the DA.

“Illegal gambling is not a victimless crime,” Thompson said in a news release. “It preys on peoples’ vulnerabilities and directly leads to money laundering, loansharking, and a host of other crimes.”

The indictment alleged that the sportsbooks used an affiliate program to pay clients an incentive that attracts active users to make wagers through the websites. The practice is common in the industry.

The DA said that Mitchnick bragged in his communications about being one of the first bookmakers to employ the “pay-per-head” system that pays such affiliates a certain amount of money for each customer they bring into the sportsbook.

That system is now considered somewhat antiquated. Many of the major offshore sportsbooks now use a program that pays their affiliates for the amount of money a client has lost in wagers.

Schneider and Rossi are alleged to have been “Master Agents,” or affiliates who brought in accounts from a large number of clients. They are both accused of laundering payments and proceeds, according to the indictment.

Ferguson is also believed to have laundered money as a “runner” who collected and distributed profits. Investigators said Ferguson once traveled between U.S. airports with a suitcase filled with over $50,000 in cash.

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said more arrests are likely to come from the investigation.

With many of the world’s top golfers in Mexico for this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship, an alternate field of up-and-comers led by Viktor Hovland are participating in the 2020 Puerto Rico Open at Coco Beach Golf and Country Club. Below, we’ll analyze the golf betting odds, while making our picks to win the 2020 Puerto Rico Open.

This week’s winner will not receive an invitation to the 2020 Masters Tournament.

The key stats for the 7,506-yard, par-72 Coco Beach Golf and Country Club are:

Puerto Rico Open – Tier 1

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Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 1:15 p.m. ET.

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Viktor Hovland (+1100)

At No. 25 in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings, Hovland is the top golfer in attendance. While the win won’t get him to Augusta National, it could propel him to better play, as was the case with Collin Morikawa‘s victory at the 2019 Barracuda Championship. That ran as the alternate event to the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

Hovland is No. 1 in my stat model this week at Fantasy National. He missed the cut in three of his last five events against stiffer competition on the PGA and European Tours, but he tied for 38th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and is definitely the class of this field. He’ll look to follow suit of Tony Finau and his breakout win in 2016.

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Patrick Rodgers (+2200)

Rodgers tied for ninth at the star-studded Farmers Insurance Open for his best result since 2018. He followed it up with a T-16 at the Waste Management Open before missing the cut at Pebble Beach, but he rebounded for a quality T-30 showing at last week’s Genesis Invitational. He’s playing his best golf right now, and could finally break through against weaker competition.

Puerto Rico Open – Tier 2

Kiradech Aphibarnrat (+5000)

Aphibarnrat will make his debut at this event following a stretch of three straight missed cuts against stronger fields. He has been struggling around the greens, but he has the length to be able to handle Coco Beach.

Roger Sloan (+8000)

Sloan tied for second in 2019 in his first appearance since a missed cut in 2015. The Canadian has missed the cut in six straight events dating back to November’s Bermuda Championship, but his co-runner-up finish last year came on the heels of two missed cuts at Pebble Beach and the Farmers. He’s typically great around the greens and strong off the tee.

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Puerto Rico Open – Longshots

Robby Shelton (+10000)

Shelton skipped last year’s tournament following a missed cut in 2017 – the 2018 tournament was held as a team fundraiser event. He has struggled of late against strong fields, but he has two top 10s in the 2019-20 season: at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier and the Mayakoba Golf Classic. Those are much are more comparable to his competition this week.

Martin Trainer (+12500)

Trainer snapped a skid of five straight missed cuts with a T-47th-place finish at the Genesis Invitational last week. These odds represent far too great of value for the defending champion, despite his current form. He missed the cut of five of seven PGA Tour events in the build-up to his win last year.

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