Ex-Indian Trevor Crowe gets probation in tax case linked to gambling; attorney cites former outfielder’s opioid addiction

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A judge ordered former Indian outfielder Trevor Crowe Tuesday to serve three years parole for reporting no more than $ 309,000 in illegal gambling receipts for his taxes.

Crowe, 37, apologized to U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan, admitting that he was struggling with addiction. His attorney Lee Stein said in documents that while Crowe’s opioid addiction “contributed to the poor decision-making that got him to court, it is in no way an excuse for the behavior. He is solely responsible for this. “

He pleaded guilty in September of filing a false tax return for the 2015 calendar year. The maximum charge was three years in prison. Gaughan asked him to repay $ 85,043 to the Internal Revenue Service.

Crowe spent three years in the majors with the Indians from 2009 to 2011 and played his final year with the Houston Astros in 2013.

He played a key role in the gambling business of Clinton Reider, a Mentor-on-the-Lake resident whose bookmaking business used offshore websites to control and track the bets placed in the bookmaking ring. This is evident from documents submitted by federal prosecutors.

Crowe and a group of others were Reider’s customers and acted as subagents for him, according to court records. The subagents were sub-bookmakers who had their own customers and they paid Reider to access the sites.

Last week, Gaughan Reider sentenced to two years in prison and ordered that he refund $ 230,714 to the IRS. Reider, guilty of gambling and tax charges, paid the government $ 550,000 to remove a lien the federal prosecutor had placed on his Mentor-on-the-Lake home.

Prosecutors tried to take the home and property worth more than $ 600,000 through deterioration as they said it was paid for through an illegal gambling business.

In April 2014, Crowe Reider sold a 2010 Porsche Panamera at a discounted price of $ 27,919 to try to reduce the debt Crowe Reider owed. The documents do not reveal the condition of the vehicle or when it was sold.

Stein submitted letters from people who knew Crowe in both baseball and drug treatment. Andy Lopez, the retired trainer at the University of Arizona, praised Crowe’s accountability and work ethic.

A retired Utah police officer William Crook discussed Crook’s honesty as the former player attended to his recovery. The previous first-round pick of the Indians in 2005 told Gaughan he’s been sober for two years.

“It seemed like Mr. Crowe was leading the life many have dreamed of,” Stein wrote in court documents. “But the sad truth was that the dream turned into a nightmare when Mr. Crowe was injured and prescribed OxyContin and other opiates.

“His injuries and drug use resulted in anxiety and panic attacks that only resulted in increased drug use and addiction. Feeling stressed and depressed when his game days ended led him to become more drugged. And with drug use came bad choices. “

A message for Crowe after the video hearing was not returned.