Judge: Minnesota Man Must Pay Back $250K In Gambling Case

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A 69-year-old Minnesota man accused of running an illegal bookmaking operation for about a dozen clients in North Dakota must pay back $250,000 and serve an additional four months in prison on top of the nearly six years he is serving on a separate case.

Gerald Greenfield, of Bloomington, Minnesota, is currently serving 50 months on a money-laundering conviction in addition to an 18-month sentence he received for walking away from a federal prison camp in Duluth. His lawyer argued that any additional time for the gambling charge serves no purpose.

But in an order filed Friday, U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson tacked on four months and ordered Greenfield to pay back $250,000.

Greenfield pleaded guilty in January to interstate transmittal of wagering information and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Federal investigators say Greenfield's North Dakota operation involved millions of dollars that was moved through overseas accounts.

Defense attorney James Henderson did not return a phone message seeking comment Monday by The Associated Press. But during a hearing last week, he told Erickson that any additional prison time was unfair. The government had asked for 27 months.

"Is another 27 months going to do anything? It is going to teach this man any further lessons?" Henderson asked. "He's not a hoodlum, he's not a gangster. He has been a bookmaker."

The judge said he ultimately decided to add four months to the sentence because Greenfield tried to collect on a debt while he was out on release, saying: "It's obvious the defendant has some impulse control problems."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Chase told the judge that Greenfield, known to gamblers by the nickname of Maverick, was a "bottom feeder" who illegally made a lot of money in North Dakota.

"The defendant felt he was never going to get caught," Chase said.

None of Greenfield's clients in North Dakota was charged in the case.