In a really strange story, one of the executive producers for Showtime’s hit Ray Donovan has pleaded guilty in a New York online gambling case that has ties to the Russian mob.
According to The New York Post, Bryan Zuriff pleaded guilty Thursday to being involved in a high-stakes sports betting business that was linked to the Russian-American mob. He was among 34 people indicted in April in connection with the illegal gambling business that prosecutors allege laundered $100 million during poker games with celebrities and businessmen.
During the hearing, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Zuriff played a role in organizing the business in Los Angeles and assisted with another game in New York.
“Bryan Zuriff spanned the coasts with his crimes, by operating his own illegal gambling enterprise in Los Angeles, and helping to operate a vast illegal gambling enterprise in New York,” Bharara said in a statement, reports Deadline. “With his plea, he becomes the first defendant, but not the last, to be convicted in this sprawling script of criminal conduct.”
Zuriff is also forfeiting $500,000 as part of the plea deal. His attorneys did not release a statement.
THR notes that he will be sentenced in November and faces up to five years.
Zuriff works on Ray Donovan, a show ironically about a Hollywood ‘fixer’ played by Liev Schreiber, who tries to get showbusiness bigwigs out of trouble. The show was picked up for second season after its premiere earned record ratings.
image: CBS/Showtime