Patrick Patte pleads guilty to gambling charge

By Daniel Johnson

The legal case of 71 year old Patrick Patte Jnr took a step towards finalisation after his legal team filed a guilty plea to an illegal gambling charge of transmitting wagering information using wire communications.
This new lesser felony charge will replace the conspiracy accusation that was originally made against the bar owner from Pennsylvania after a police operation uncovered evidence of his facilitating online sports betting.
The documents pertaining to this lesser charge were filed last week, and were immediately sealed by U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo, leaving the terms of Patte's deal with the prosecutors unclear.

The pleas agreements of bar manager Mark G Fino and Christopher Marion have also remained under seal since they were signed in April this year.
Federal investigations into the alleged running of an internet gambling operation began in January 2025 when police were tipped off by an informant. Undercover agents apparently placed several bets on the site wiltobet.
It is alleged that Patte's Sports Bar was a pivotal element in an online betting operation, which involved wagering by gamblers who accessed an Internet betting site with code names and passwords. Winnings were distributed and losses collected at the bar and other locations between January 2025 and February 2025, federal prosecutors have claimed.

Police reported seized $90 000 and computerised betting records and recorded conversations were filed. In February this year the US Attorney's Office lodged an application for the forfeiture of the Patte's Bar building on grounds that it had been used to facilitate illegal internet sports betting.

It is unknown if the forfeiture order is to stand in light of the guilty pleas and negotiations.