Press Release  Three Men Charged in Connection With Illegal Gambling and Extortion Scheme

BOSTON — Three individuals have been indicted on charges related to extortion, witness intimidation, and illegal bookmaking, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

The charges are the result of a long-term, multi-year investigation by the AG’s Gaming Enforcement Division and the Massachusetts State Police Special Service Section (SSS) working in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into illegal bookmaking, loan sharking, money laundering, and organized crime.

Three defendants were indicted by a Statewide Grand Jury on the following charges:

Eric Rogers, age 54, of Revere

Extortion (3 counts)

Conspiracy to Commit Extortion (1 count)

Witness Intimidation (1 count)

Use of a Telephone for Gaming (1 count)

Conspiracy to Use Telephone for Gaming (1 count)

Michael McMahon, age 44, of Boston

Extortion (1 count)

Conspiracy to Commit Extortion (1 count)

Organizing and Promoting Illegal Gaming (1 count)

Criminal Usury (1 count)

Money Laundering (1 count)

Registering Bets (1 count)

Conspiracy to Register Bets (1 count)

Use of a Telephone for Gaming (1 count)

Conspiracy to Use Telephone for Gaming (1 count)

Brian Kelley, age 50, of Duxbury

Money Laundering (1 count)

Registering Bets (1 count)

Conspiracy to Register Bets (1 count)

Use of a Telephone for Gaming (1 count)

Conspiracy to Use Telephone for Gaming (1 count)

Rogers was arrested and arraigned on the charges in Suffolk Superior Court earlier today. Rogers was held on $75,000 cash bail with the following conditions for release: he surrender his passport, be monitored via GPS with a 6pm- 6am curfew, and stay away from victims and witnesses. McMahon and Kelley will be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court at a later date.

The AG’s Office alleges that from 2017 to 2019, McMahon ran a large-scale illegal bookmaking enterprise that generated between $1 million to $2 million annually. All bets were placed through a website run by an offshore gaming company based in Costa Rica. The AG’s Office alleges that Kelley was an employee of the gaming company who collected cash payments from illegal bookmakers, including McMahon, then delivered large bundles of U.S. currency in person via flights to Costa Rica as part of an elaborate money laundering scheme. Kelley is alleged to have earned significant income from this illegal scheme, which he then laundered through various residential properties. McMahon is alleged to have made more than $234,000 in cash payments to Kelley over a 20-month period.

The AG’s Office alleges that Rogers collected two extortion payments of $10,000 in 2019 from McMahon in exchange for the right to operate an illegal book with permission from a larger, organized criminal syndicate.

The AG’s Office further alleges that Rogers and McMahon extorted vast sums of U.S. currency from a bettor under McMahon’s illegal bookmaking enterprise who initially refused to pay a debt, threatening violence, and using Rogers’ reputation as an organized crime associate to force payment from the victim.

All of these charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The AG’s investigation remains ongoing.

AG Healey’s Gaming Enforcement Division has a dedicated group of prosecutors and investigators who enforce the state’s Expanded Gaming Act of 2011 and investigate and prosecute illegal activity such as organized crime, money laundering, gaming-related financial crime, and corruption.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Kevin P. McCarthy and Deputy Division Chief Stephen Carley of AG Healey’s Gaming Enforcement Division, with the assistance of the AG’s Digital Evidence Laboratory, including forensic Digital Media Analyst Jobal Thomas and Laura Hernandez, and the Massachusetts State Police’s Fusion Center. Financial Investigation was conducted by Senior Financial Investigator Eugene Griffin of AG Healey’s Gaming Enforcement Division.

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