Ohio Code 3775.99 – Prohibitions and penalties
(A) Whoever knowingly does any of the following commits a misdemeanor of the first degree on the first offense and a felony of the fifth degree on a subsequent offense:
Attorney's Note
Under the Ohio Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Felony of the third degree | 9 months to 5 years | up to $10,000 |
| Felony of the fourth degree | 6 to 18 months | up to $5,000 |
| Felony of the fifth degree | 6 to 12 months | up to $2,500 |
| Misdemeanor of the first degree | up to 180 days | up to $1,000 |
Terms Used In Ohio Code 3775.99
- anything of value: includes :
(A) Money, bank bills or notes, United States treasury notes, and other bills, bonds, or notes issued by lawful authority and intended to pass and circulate as money;
(B) Goods and chattels;
(C) Promissory notes, bills of exchange, orders, drafts, warrants, checks, or bonds given for the payment of money;
(D) Receipts given for the payment of money or other property;
(E) Rights in action;
(F) Things which savor of the realty and are, at the time they are taken, a part of the freehold, whether they are of the substance or produce thereof or affixed thereto, although there may be no interval between the severing and taking away;
(G) Any interest in realty, including fee simple and partial interests, present and future, contingent or vested interests, beneficial interests, leasehold interests, and any other interest in realty;
(H) Any promise of future employment;
(I) Every other thing of value. See Ohio Code 1.03
- bet: means to risk a sum of money or thing of value on an uncertain occurrence. See Ohio Code 3775.01
- Commission: means the Ohio casino control commission. See Ohio Code 3775.01
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- Internet: means the international computer network of both federal and nonfederal interoperable packet switched data networks, including the graphical subnetwork known as the world wide web. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Online sports pool: means sports gaming in which a wager on a sporting event is made through a computer or mobile device and accepted through an online gaming web site that is operated by a type A sports gaming proprietor or mobile management services provider. See Ohio Code 3775.01
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Rule: includes regulation. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Sporting event: includes an event that involves athletes or participants who are under eighteen years of age, or the individual performance statistics of athletes or participants in the event, only if the Ohio casino control commission authorizes the event for sports gaming. See Ohio Code 3775.01
- sports gaming: includes any system or method of wagering on sporting events that the Ohio casino control commission approves, including exchange wagering, parlays, spreads, over-under, moneyline, in-game wagering, single game bets, teaser bets, in-play bets, proposition bets, pools, pari-mutuel sports wagering pools, or straight bets. See Ohio Code 3775.01
- Sports gaming facility: means a designated area of a building or structure in which patrons may place wagers on sporting events with a type B sports gaming proprietor either in person or using self-service sports gaming terminals. See Ohio Code 3775.01
- Sports gaming licensee: means a person who holds a valid sports gaming license. See Ohio Code 3775.01
- Sports gaming proprietor: means a person licensed by the Ohio casino control commission to offer sports gaming in this state as a type A, type B, or type C sports gaming proprietor. See Ohio Code 3775.01
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Whoever: includes all persons, natural and artificial; partners; principals, agents, and employees; and all officials, public or private. See Ohio Code 1.02
(1) Makes a false statement on an application submitted under this chapter;
(2) Permits an individual under twenty-one years of age to engage in sports gaming;
(3) Aids, induces, or causes an individual under twenty-one years of age who is not an employee of the sports gaming proprietor to enter or attempt to enter a sports gaming facility;
(4) Enters or attempts to enter a sports gaming facility while under twenty-one years of age, except as permitted under division (C) of section 3775.12 of the Revised Code;
(5) Participates in sports gaming in violation of division (D) of section 3775.13 of the Revised Code, other than as part of operating sports gaming or as part of the employee’s employment.
(B) Whoever knowingly does any of the following commits a felony of the fifth degree on a first offense and a felony of the fourth degree on a subsequent offense. If the person is a sports gaming licensee under this chapter, the Ohio casino control commission shall revoke the person’s license issued under this chapter after the first offense.
(1) Offers, promises, or gives anything of value to anyone for the purpose of influencing the outcome of a sporting event or attempts to do so;
(2) Places, increases, or decreases a wager after acquiring knowledge not available to the general public that anyone has been offered, promised, or given anything of value for the purpose of influencing the outcome of the sporting event upon which the wager is placed, increased, or decreased, or attempts to do so;
(3) Manufactures, sells, or distributes any device that is intended by that person to be used to violate any provision of this chapter or the sports gaming laws of any other state;
(4) Places a bet or aids any other person in placing a bet on a sporting event after unlawfully acquiring knowledge of the outcome on which winnings from that bet are contingent;
(5) Claims, collects, or takes anything of value from a sports gaming proprietor with intent to defraud or attempts to do so without having made a wager in which the amount or value is legitimately won or owed;
(6) Places a wager using counterfeit currency or other counterfeit form of credit approved for wagering;
(7) Possesses any device intended to be used to violate this chapter or any rule adopted under this chapter, or any materials used to manufacture such a device. This division does not apply to a sports gaming proprietor or to an agent or employee of a sports gaming proprietor who is acting in furtherance of the sports gaming proprietor’s interest.
(8) Changes or alters the normal outcome of any sports gaming conducted through an online sports pool, including any system used to monitor the online sports pool, or the way in which the outcome is reported to any patron;
(9) Operates sports gaming in a manner other than the manner required under this chapter. Premises or any internet web site used or occupied in violation of this division constitute a nuisance subject to abatement under Chapter 3767 of the Revised Code.
(C) Whoever knowingly does any of the following commits a felony of the third degree. If the person is a sports gaming licensee under this chapter, the commission shall revoke the person’s license issued under this chapter after the first offense. If the person is a public servant or political party official, the person is forever disqualified from holding any public office, employment, or position of trust in this state.
(1) Offers, promises, or gives anything of value or benefit to a person who is connected with a sports gaming proprietor, an agent or employee of a sports gaming proprietor, or a member, agent, or employee of the Ohio casino control commission or the state lottery commission, under an agreement to influence, or with the intent to influence, the actions of the person to whom the offer, promise, or gift is made in order to affect or attempt to affect the outcome of sports gaming or an official action of a member, agent, or employee of the Ohio casino control commission or the state lottery commission;
(2) Solicits, accepts, or receives a promise of anything of value or benefit while the person is connected with a sports gaming proprietor, an agent or employee of a sports gaming proprietor, or a member, agent, or employee of the Ohio casino control commission or the state lottery commission, under an agreement to influence, or with the intent to influence, the actions of the person to affect or attempt to affect the outcome of sports gaming or an official action of a member, agent, or employee of the Ohio casino control commission or the state lottery commission.
(D) Whoever knowingly does any of the following while participating in sports gaming or otherwise transacting with a sports gaming proprietor as permitted under this chapter or sections 3770.23 to 3770.25 of the Revised Code commits a felony of the fifth degree on a first offense and a felony of the fourth degree on a subsequent offense:
(1) Causes or attempts to cause the person to fail to file a report required under 31 U.S.C. § 5313(a) or 5325 or any regulation prescribed thereunder or section 1315.53 of the Revised Code, or to fail to file a report or maintain a record required by an order issued under section 21 of the “Federal Deposit Insurance Act” or section 123 of Pub. L. No. 91-508;
(2) Causes or attempts to cause the person to file a report under 31 U.S.C. § 5313(a) or 5325 or any regulation prescribed thereunder or section 1315.53 of the Revised Code, to file a report or to maintain a record required by any order issued under 31 U.S.C. § 3126, or to maintain a record required under any regulation prescribed under section 21 of the “Federal Deposit Insurance Act” or section 123 of Pub. L. No. 91-508 that contains a material omission or misstatement of fact;
(3) With one or more sports gaming proprietors, structures a transaction, is complicit in structuring a transaction, attempts to structure a transaction, or is complicit in an attempt to structure a transaction. As used in this division:
(a) To be “complicit” means to engage in any conduct of a type described in divisions (A)(1) to (4) of section 2923.03 of the Revised Code.
(b) “Structure a transaction” has the same meaning as in section 1315.51 of the Revised Code.
Last updated February 14, 2022 at 4:02 PM