As opposed to developing a drama that is compelling Showtime series Ray Donovan producer Bryan Zuriff is featuring in their own crime series, it seems, and it’s not having a very delighted ending for the troubled Hollywood mogul. Zuriff has entered a plea that is guilty the Southern District Court of ny the Department of Justice arm that indicted Zuriff, along with 33 others, back April of in 2010 for a high-profile Russian mob-spearheaded, prepared crime online sportsbetting and high-stakes poker syndicate ring. The plea had been for Zuriff’s indictment on felony gambling charges and ended up being received by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara week that is last.

Plea Deal and Forfeiture

Specifically, Zuriff’s fees include operating an illegal sports gambling business, transmission of sports wagering information across state lines, and acceptance of monetary instruments for unlawful online gambling; he has only pled guilty, at the time of now, towards the last charge, and might receive up to five years in the joint for their role in the international gambling scandal. Moreover, the producer will even have to forfeit half of a million dollars to meet the terms of their plea deal aided by the Feds. He now awaits sentencing on Nov. 25 three days before Thanksgiving and two before the start of (very early) Hanukkah this year so it should be a really fun festive season for Zuriff this season. Maybe he should eat his turkey early; we hear the stuff they serve in prison isn’t prepared by Martha Stewart (anymore).

Zuriff was apparently as busy being a high-end bookie as he was running illegal sportsbetting operations from both LaLa Land in Hollywood, as well as helping run the show back in the Big Apple, under the watch of art dealer Hillel Nahmad and other Russian big-time players as he was working on sets; Bharara’s statements regarding the plea deal said that the producer ‘spanned the coasts with his crimes. Zuriff’s plea deal wraps up Bharara’s work on this instance once the conviction that is final what the attorney has termed ‘this sprawling script of criminal conduct.’ Maybe Zuriff can write some new scripts to be shopped while in their cell; he should have lots of time on their hands.

Bestseller in the Making

With Hollywood never shy about making money off a scandal maybe not even if its members are involved (individual or body parts), word is that another high-profile person of notoriety who was simply part of this group is writing her very own book about this. ‘Poker madam’ Molly Bloom also indicted by the DoJ earlier this year is said to be bandying about lots of big film star names in her tome, possibly including Spiderman actor Tobey Maguire, who apparently had been a poker game regular in these A-list Tinseltown house games.

The whole operation laundered some $100 million in unlawful gambling earnings, according to federal prosecutors, using hundreds of little bank accounts along with shell companies created in the U.S. and Cypress. Mark Galeotti, a russian crime that is organized at brand New York University, says a razor-sharp uptake in upper class wide range in what was previously the Soviet Union has established a whole new underground for experiencing the worldwide and enormous -illegal sportsbetting market, with potentially billions in hidden profits (unless they get busted, as happened here, of course.) ‘We’re seeing higher-rolling entrepreneurs involved in these types of cases,’ Galeotti noted. The rollers that are high bookies are kept with the problem ‘of trying to puzzle out what to complete with suitcases full of cash, and that leads to the cash laundering,’ he added.

Now why a successful Hollywood producer got involved in most of this, placing his own money, reputation and actual life on the line: that’s a good topic for a crime mystery that is future. Meanwhile, all of the publicity zuriff that is surrounding hasn’t hurt their show; it was just picked up for another period by Showtime with only three shows having aired thus far.