This summer, Minnesota Wild winger Thomas Vanek found himself caught up in a federal case against three men accused of running a gambling ring out of an Upstate New York bar. Vanek, who played nearby in both Rochester and Buffalo, served as a witness, but his link to the alleged bookies was unclear. This should make things clearer: one of the defendants admitted laundering a big ol’ gambling debt from a certain hockey player.
As two of the defendants await trial, a third, Mark Ruff, pleaded guilty yesterday to illegal gambling and money laundering. In an interview with NBC-10 News in Rochester, Ruff’s attorney indicated that Ruff laundered a $230,000 check from the Islanders, apparently signed over to the gambling ring by Vanek.