Youngest defendant in sports gambling ring avoids prison

CHICAGO (AP) — The youngest person charged in a sports betting ring that included a northern Illinois mayor pardoned by then-President Donald Trump has avoided prison time for bringing a bookmaking operation to the Illinois State University campus.

A federal judge in Chicago sentenced Matthew Namoff, 25, on Tuesday to six months of home confinement and a $10,000 fine. He pleaded guilty in April to conspiring to conduct an illegal gambling business.

Namoff is the seventh person to be sentenced in a series of related gambling cases, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Two of the six people previously sentenced got prison time, but four others avoided it. Trump pardoned another defendant, Mettawa Mayor Casey Urlacher — the brother of former Chicago Bears star Brian Urlacher — in January.