Las Vegas: William West Roberts Indicted on Illegal Bookmaking Charges

Las Vegas gambler William West Roberts is facing charges again. A Clark County grand jury indicted him on September 29 on charges involving an illegal sports-betting business and money laundering, the Nevada Gaming Control Board said on September 30. Roberts says he did nothing wrong, and his lawyer says he is innocent.

The indictment comes weeks after an earlier case against him was dismissed. It was unsealed in court on September 30, the day after the grand jury acted, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which reported that Roberts is 57.

A Costa Rica website at the center of the case

The board says the case grew out of an investigation lasting several years. Roberts was arrested in April 2026, after investigators identified that he was accepting sports wagers through a website based in Costa Rica.

In plain terms, he is accused of bookmaking: taking bets from other people and paying the winners, acting as the house himself. Nevada law requires the appropriate gaming licenses to operate a sports pool or receive compensation for accepting sports wagers.

The Review-Journal reported that the board alleged Roberts commingled, or mixed, betting-related funds with money from a fitness center and a gambling-tip business.

At the September 30 hearing, Chief Deputy District Attorney Austin Beaumont said Roberts was caught on video explaining his bookmaking operation to an undercover agent. He also said Roberts kept taking bets even after his April arrest. These are allegations, not findings of guilt.

The newspaper reported four charges:

• operating a gaming establishment without a license, a felony
• unlawfully receiving compensation for accepting bets without the required gaming license
• attempted money laundering
• accepting unlawful wagers, a gross misdemeanor

Money laundering means trying to make money from crime look legitimate. Gambling is an area where watchdogs look for it closely. In September, the Financial Action Task Force, which sets the global rules against dirty money, published warning signs for casinos, betting sites and game platforms.

The FBI helped with the investigation, but this is a Nevada state case. The Clark County District Attorney’s office is prosecuting it in state district court.

The board said it will keep investigating any activity that threatens the fairness of regulated sports betting, and that it is not releasing further details for now. Separately, Nevada’s nonrestricted gaming licensees reported approximately $1.27 billion in total gaming win for August 2026.

From arrest to indictment

• April 2026: Roberts is arrested after an investigation by the Gaming Control Board and the FBI.
• August 2026: the earlier case against him is dismissed, the Review-Journal reported.
• September 29: a Clark County grand jury indicts him, according to the board.
• September 30: the indictment is unsealed before District Judge Carli Kierny, the newspaper reported.

After the August dismissal, Roberts told the Review-Journal he had been wrongly accused.

Roberts and his lawyer push back

His lawyer, Chris Rasmussen, told the court the case is full of false statements. He said Roberts does not own or run a website and does not go to Costa Rica.

“We still believe he’s going to be found not guilty,” Rasmussen said, according to the newspaper.

Both men describe Roberts as a heavy gambler, not a bookmaker. Roberts has called the case a witch hunt.

Released, but kept out of gaming establishments

Prosecutors wanted Roberts held on $1 million bail. They also asked for high-level electronic monitoring and other conditions, including random searches of his digital devices.

Judge Kierny did not set bail. She released Roberts on his own recognizance, meaning he did not have to post bail money, but with high-level electronic monitoring. She also ordered him to surrender his passport and barred him from gaming establishments while the charges are pending, the Review-Journal reported.

Featured image: A judge’s gavel in a courtroom. Photo: Joe Gratz / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)