A flashy high-rolling gambler pleaded guilty Wednesday in a $9.6 million wire fraud scheme in federal court in Chicago.
Robert Gorodetsky, 27, of Northbrook, who was charged last month, was the subject of a lengthy and colorful 2017 USA Today profile. Though it introduced him as a college dropout and “a fat, Jewish kid from Chicago, by his own account,” it also described Gorodetsky as “canoodling with beautiful women” and “sharing photos of himself with athletes such as Odell Beckham Jr. and celebrities such as Drake.” It said he wagered “well over $1 million” on sporting events in seven days of being shadowed by reporters.
The article said Gorodetsky had “emerged as one of the most compelling and controversial, albeit largely unknown, figures in sports,” and it said Gorodetsky and his inner circle thought “he could emerge as America’s leading sports bettor.” The newspaper titled the article, “Is this the future face of sports gambling?”
The story said Gorodetsky went to New Trier High School in Winnetka before graduating and enrolling at the University of Arizona.
In photos accompanying the article, Gorodetsky sported a “GAMBLR” cap. During one meeting, the newspaper said he wore a $6,000 hoodie, $2,500 high-top shoes and a Hublot watch that cost $47,000. He told the newspaper he was drunk when he bought the watch.
Gorodetsky’s Twitter profile once bragged, “I Bet $27 Million in Sports Bets in 2017,” and it included a link to the USA Today story. His Twitter feed was full of pictures of betting slips.
Days after the USA Today story, Gorodetsky told the newspaper he had been banned by Las Vegas casinos and said, “I’m banned for life basically from Vegas . . . My life is over basically, but nothing I can do.”
Still, in 2019, the website SportsBettingDime.com included Gorodetsky’s Instagram account in its “Top 5 Sports Betting Instagram Accounts You Need to Follow Today.”
The federal case against Gorodetsky alleges he swindled $9.6 million out of a single investor between 2014 and 2018. The investor was identified in the charging document only as “Individual A.”
Prosecutors said Gorodetsky promised to pool the investor’s money with his own funds to make stock market investments and sporting bets, and he said they would share the profits and losses.
The investor handed over $953,000 between February and June 2014, $737,388 of which Gorodetsky put to “his own personal use,” according to the charges.
