Billy Walters blames Phil Mickelson for his 2017 conviction, claiming he could have prevented his daughter’s suicide if he was free

Billy Walters, the most successful sports gambler in history, claimed Phil Mickelson could have helped him avoid jail if he had agreed to testify at his 2017 trial.

Walter was sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted on 10 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud in connection with “ill-gotten gains” in trading stock of Dean Foods.

Walters shared inside information about some of these transactions with Mickelson, who made multiple stock transactions that netted him $931,000 and was forced by the SEC to pay back $1 million.

And Walters attributes much of the blame for his conviction to Mickelson, who he says had already told the FBI that he never received insider trading information from Walters, but withdrew from testifying at the eleventh hour. process.

“I thought we were friends and that hurt me more than anything,” Walters said The times. “All he was asked was to come forward and tell only the truth. He didn’t and I lost my freedom because of that.’

Walters was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy, securities fraud and bank fraud

Mickelson made 858 bets of $220,000 and 1,115 bets of $110,000 between 2010 and 2014, while estimating his total losses over the past 30 years exceeded $1 billion, Walters claimed in an excerpt from his autobiography “Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk,” via Golf overview.

“When push comes to shove, Phil cares about no one but himself,” writes Walters. “Again and again, he never stood up for a friend. He simply refused to tell the truth, when it could have meant the difference between imprisonment and an acquittal.’

Walters’ daughter took her own life in 2019 after struggling with an opioid addiction while in prison.

The Las Vegas businessman believes that if he had been free, she would still be alive and cited her death as a motive to “set things right” about his association with Mickelson.

“Had I been out of it, I have no doubt my daughter would still be alive,” Walters told The Times.

The six-time big winner first met Walters at the 2006 Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and the notorious sports gambler claimed he formed a gambling partnership with the golfer two years later.

Still, the bet that raised the most eyebrows was Mickelson’s alleged request to place a bet on the 2012 Ryder Cup.

Walters claimed that in 2012, Mickelson attempted to place a $400,000 bet on his own American team to win the Ryder Cup.

He says he then angrily asked Mickelson, “Have you lost your mind?” before the California golfer backed down on his request. He remains unsure whether he placed the bet elsewhere.

Walters claimed the six-time big winner was trying to place a bet on the 2012 Ryder Cup

That year, Team USA suffered one of the biggest collapses in Ryder Cup history as Europe staged a miraculous comeback in Medina.

He also alleges that Mickelson offered two foreign accounts to use for football matches after bookies imposed limits on Walters’ betting.

But the partnership came to an end after Mickelson learned that the FBI was investigating Walters, with the prosecution claiming he made more than $43 million between 2008 and 2014 using tips from former Dean Foods chairman Thomas C. Davis.

“The last thing prosecutors wanted to see, given the strength of his celebrity and personality, was Phil Mickelson walking into a courtroom and testifying under oath on the witness stand that, as far as he knew, I was not guilty,” writes Walters. “But Phil didn’t.”

The collaboration came to an end after Mickelson learned that the FBI was investigating Walters

Walters ran into Mickelson for the first time since his release last June following the self-imposed exile of the pro from the golf world following his explosive remarks about the Saudi Arabians, the financiers of LIV Golf.

Mickelson had led the defection from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf, being the most outspoken supporter of the breakaway, which created a major rift between the Rebels and those who refused to jump ship.

Walters believes there is a strong resemblance between Mickelson’s feud with the PGA Tour loyalists and his own split with the 53-year-old.

“I think there are a lot of similarities,” he says. ‘Unfortunately, that’s pretty much the case. I don’t think he cares about anyone but himself.’