Sports betting death threats earns Cali gambler a visit to prison

Sports betting is a past time that can lead to real frustration, especially when your team comes out on the losing end of the deal and you start losing real cash. There is a tendency among some sports betting enthusiasts in these situations to lash out at individual athletes who they see as being personally responsible for their losses. A 23-year-old Fullerton, California man named Addison Choi took that tendency way too far last year by sending death threats to athletes whose performances he’d wagered on, and now he’s looking at real prison time for his actions.
Choi was a college student at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts during the last half of 2017 when his sports betting habit got out of control. The young college student wagered on everything from hockey to tennis and regularly lost more than he won. After losses, Choi took to making crude racial comments and flat-out death threats on social media to the athletes he held responsible for his losses.
His threatening tirades earned him the attention of law enforcement who, generally, don’t take kindly to comments like, “I will kill you and your family and f—— hang them on a tree you stupid ugly mother——,” especially when they’re issued on social media.
This year, Choi found himself in a Boston court room pleading guilty to a judge on charges of transmitting in interstate and foreign commerce a threat to injure the person of another. He’s now facing up to 27 months in prison for his tirades when he’s sentenced later this summer.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Andrew Lelling spelled out Choi’s crime saying, “There is a difference between free speech – even hate speech – and intentionally putting others in fear for their lives. Mr. Choi crossed that line,” according to a report in USA Today.
Choi’s downfall is a stern warning to all sports betting enthusiasts who take their social media rantings a bit too far.