An LAPD officer and two others were charged with running a gambling operation where participants placed “high-dollar bets” on the outcome of the National Football League’s 2021 Super Bowl, authorities announced Friday.
LAPD Officer Robert Felix, a 13-year veteran of the department, Francisco Martin Del Campo and Gabriel Martin Del Campo face multiple felony charges of bookmaking, the LAPD said in a news release.
The three were charged earlier this month by the state Department of Justice, according to the release.
The department placed Felix on leave from his assignment as an officer in the LAPD Transit Services Division, police said.
The state department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is also involved in the investigation.
LAPD declined to release further information on the case on Friday.
Sports betting is allowed in more than a dozen states, including New York and Oregon, but a plan to put legalized betting before California voters on the November 2020 ballot failed last summer. The effort — expected to be revived in 2022 given hundreds of millions in revenue at stake — was opposed by Native American casino interests, among others.
City News Service contributed to this report.