Fill and Sign the Jury Instruction Illegal Gambling Business Bookmaking Form

9 Illegal Gambling Business 18 USC § 1955 Title 18, United States Code, Section 1955, makes it a Federal crime or offense for anyone to conduct an " illegal gambling business." An " illegal gambling business" is defined t o be a gambling business which: (1) Is a violation of the law of the state in which it is conducted; and (2) Involves five or more persons who conduct, finance, manage, supervise, direct or own all or part of such business; and (3) Has been or remains in substantially continuous operation for a period in excess of thirty days or has a gross revenue of $2,000 in any single day. So, the Defendant can be found guilty of that offense only if all of the following facts are proved beyond a reasonable doubt: First: That five or more persons, including the Defendant, knowingly and willfully conducted, financed, managed, supervised, directed or owned all or part of a gambling business, as charged; Second: That such gambling business violated the laws of the state of; and Third: That such gambling business was in substantially continuous operation for a period of thirty days or more, or, alternatively, had a gross revenue of $2,000 or more on any one day. " Bookmaking" is a form of gambling, and involves the business of establishing certain terms and conditions applicable to given bets or wagers, usually called a line or odds, and then accepting bets from customers on either side of the wagering proposition for the purpose of making a profit, not from the betting itself, but from a percentage or commission collected from the bettors or customers for the privilege of placing the bets. You are instructed that " bookmaking" is unlawful in the state of. The words " finances, manages, supervises, direct s or owns" are all used in their ordinary sense and include those who finance or manage or supervise a business; but t he word " conduct" is a broader term and would include anyone working with the business enterprise as an employee with or without a voice in management or a share in profits. A mere bettor or customer, however, would not be participating in the "conduct" of the business. While it must be proved, as previously stated, that five or more people conducted, financed or supervised an illegal gambling business that remained in substantially continuous operation for at least thirty days, or had a gross revenue of $2,000 or more on any single day, it need not be shown hat five or more people have been charged with an offense; nor that the same five people, including the Defendant, owned, financed or conducted such gambling business throughout a thirty day period; nor that the Defendant even knew the names and identities of any given number of people who might have been so involved. Neither must it be proved that bets were accepted every day over a thirty-day period, nor that such activity constituted the primary business or employment of the Defendant. ANNOTATIONS AND COMMENTS 18 USC § 1955 provides: Whoever conducts, finances, manages, supervises, directs, or owns all or part of an illegal gambling business [shall be guilty of an offense against the United States]. Maximum Penalty: Five (5) years imprisonment and applicable fine. For purposes of t he statute, one " conduct s" an illegal gambling business by performing any necessary function in t he gambling operation, other than that of mere bettor. Thus, a Defendant' s proposed instruction that " [a] person who took bets on five or six occasions over a year' s time could not be considered [a] participant in conduct[ing] [a] gambling business" was properly refused where the evidence established that the Defendant, in addition to taking bets, collected gambling debts and forwarded them to another participant. United States v. Miller, 22 F.3 d 107 5 (1 1t h Cir. 1 99 4). In United States v. Herring, 95 5 F.2d 703 (11t h Cir. 199 2), t he Eleventh Circuit approved the district court's instruction concerning " layoff bets. "