'Bookie Butcher' Sentenced For Tax Evasion, Sports Betting

HIGHWOOD, IL — The owner of Poeta's Italian Food Market in Highwood was sentenced Monday to one year in federal prison after pleading guilty to running an illegal gambling operation and tax evasion.

Domenic Poeta, 63, admitted he failed to report more than $3.7 million in income from his bookmaking business from 2012 to 2017, according to a plea agreement he signed in August.

Federal prosecutors said the actual number was likely far higher even during that five-year period, since that estimate only included checks from seven betters identified by investigators.

The estimate also did not include illegal gambling revenue from years prior to 2012 — nor the interest prosecutors said Poeta made as a loan shark.

According to a 2005 case that eventually led to Poeta paying a judgement of over $848,000, he has operated as a bookie out of his Highwood deli and elsewhere since at least 2001.

In that case, Poeta invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, and earned the moniker the "bookie butcher" from Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass.

"[Poeta] continued to operate this illegal business after he came to the attention of the courts, the press, and was forced to disgorge hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost wagers," said Assistant United States Attorney Patrick King, the lead prosecutor on the case.

"After learning of the current investigation (after he received a subpoena for records [on May 21, 2018]) he continued to accept wagers but told one bettor that he would no longer accept checks because of the IRS," he said in a sentencing memo.

RELATED: 'Bookie Butcher' Charged With Illegal Sports Gambling Operation

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Defense attorney Thomas Breen described Poeta as a devoted family man and hard worker who is constantly involved in the lives of his eight grandchildren.

Despite agreeing to a plea deal to offenses that included a preliminary sentencing guideline of a minimum of 2.5 years, Breen sought to convince U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly to sentence Poeta to probation for his years of tax evasion and illegal bookmaking.

In his sentencing memo, Poeta's lawyer noted sports betting had been legalized in Illinois earlier this year.

"Apparently, the morality issues of gambling have been resolved in favor of tax revenue for the states and federal government," Breen argued.

Breen also pointed to Poeta's involvement in the local wrestling community, both at Highland Park High School, through the Little Giants wrestling program, and at the Poeta Training Center in Lake Forest.

"If sentenced to a period of incarceration," Breen said, "Mr. Poeta’s absence would have a profound effect not only on his family, but others in the community. Mr. Poeta is the heart and soul of his grocery store. His brother has cancer, and without Mr. Poeta there to operate the business it will likely fail, and a dozen or so employees would be out of work. Moreover, the Poeta Training Center could be forced to close and the opportunities it provides to the children and teens of the community would be lost."

Prosecutors pointed to income and tax records showing Poeta spent $514,000 on the family wrestling gym during a five-year period when he reported earning less than $52,000 in taxable income.

Poeta also spent over $1 million in mortgage payments, more than $800,000 investing in commodities and futures and $620,000 on buying real estate, in addition to making payments for several cars during that same period.

Prosecutors said the tax evasion had gone on for years — well before the period for which Poeta pleaded guilty.

For instance, when he purchased a $1.5 million house in Highland Park in 2008, he told the bank he was earning $288,000 a year and made a down payment of more than $530,000, according to court filings. That same year he told the IRS his income was less than $12,000.

In addition to 12 months in federal prison starting in May 2021, Kennelly ordered Poeta to pay nearly $1.5 million in restitution and to undergo three years of supervision after his release.