Billy Walters Seeks Accountability for the Leaks to the Press

Legal representatives of convicted gambler Billy Walters petitioned the US Attorney General and the FBI regarding information about an FBI agent leaking information to the press which contributed to the sentence the court issued to Walters in 2017.

Insider Trading Case

Billy Walters was convicted of participating in a six-year long scheme of trading on insider information, earning in excess of $40 million in the process. The gambler used information about a Dallas-based company, Dean Foods, delivered to him from the company’s Co-Chairman Tom Davis.

Convicted on 10 counts of fraud and conspiracy, Billy Walters was sentenced to 5 years in prison and $10 million fine, despite attempts from friends and supporters, including celebrities such as famous tennis player Andre Agassi and professional golfers Jim Colbert and Peter Jacobsen, to seek leniency for the gambler, who bragged he never had a losing year in football and basketball wagering.

The judge described Walters as a Las Vegas celebrity who exploited his relationship with the co-chairman of Dean Foods out of egocentric motives such as greed and being seen as a winner. Indeed, Walters did not need to engage in such schemes as his wagering skills let him amass a fortune, including Las Vegas businesses such as golf courses, auto dealerships and car-rental agencies, with total revenue above $500 million.

Request for Investigation

Billy Walters served more than half of his sentence before being released to serve the remainder in home confinement earlier this year, and after information in October that federal prosecutors admitted in 2016 that reporters at The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times were leaked confidential information by an FBI agent named David Chaves, attorneys for Walters filed a lawsuit in New York.

On Monday, Walters’ Attorney Pierce O’Donnel wrote Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray to demand they take action over the leaks, asking for an independent investigation and public disclosure of the disciplinary, criminal or other proceedings undertaken against the defendants.

According to the lawsuit filed in October, Preet Bharara, former US attorney for the Southern District of New York, and the Department of Justice, did not do anything to stop the leaks and find their source, and Walters went to trial and was found guilty of the insider trading scheme.

Complaints against Chaves and Bharara were also pursued to attorney grievance committees in Massachusetts and New York as O’Donnel believes there should be accountability for the leaks.