A Los Angeles County man was sentenced Tuesday to two years and three months behind bars for operating an illegal gambling business, laundering money and evading about $4 million in taxes.
Jason Feinman, 52, of Calabasas, was also ordered to pay $1.47 million in fines and restitution, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
He pleaded guilty in January in Los Angeles federal court to money laundering, tax evasion and illegal gambling charges.
Feinman operated a Costa Rica-based business that, among other things, ran a website that allowed illicit gambling operations to take bets, the DOJ said.
Feinman laundered cash he derived from his business by exchanging funds for checks made out to him or one of his companies. For example, between 2018 and 2024, Feinman gave one of his customers more than $1.5 million in cash and received in exchange 18 checks made payable to him or his businesses adding up to the same amount. Overall, Feinman exchanged between $1.5 million and $3.5 million in cash for checks, according to federal prosecutors.
In addition, between 2018 and 2022, Feinman knew he had to report his illegal gambling business on his tax returns and pay tax on the income he earned from it. He instead hid about $4.19 million from the government. Despite earning $1.8 million in income in 2020, Feinman reported no taxable income on his tax return and paid no tax for the year, the DOJ said.
In total, Feinman laundered more than $1.5 million in cash and evaded tax on $4 million in income, causing a tax loss to the United States of about $1.52 million, prosecutors said.