Maryland man charged after threatening PrizePicks execs

Federal authorities charged Aaron John Sasser after an April 3 online customer-service chat in which he allegedly threatened to kill PrizePicks CEO Mike Ybarra and founders Adam Wexler and Jay Deuskar over a $50 account dispute. The chat took place on the company’s online support channel and lasted at least 24 minutes, according to an affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Joshua Floyd.\n\nThe affidavit includes a transcript in which Sasser wrote, “if my $50 doesn’t end up back in my bank account before 5pm today, I’m going to drive down to Atlanta, Georgia and kill everyone in the PrizePicks office.” The document also records threats against the executives’ spouses and the use of antisemitic language.\n\nPrizePicks’ chat began with an automated chatbot, and a human customer-service supervisor joined later. The supervisor warned Sasser that the company would permanently ban his account, report the interaction to law enforcement and consider further legal action. The company provided the FBI’s Atlanta office with Sasser’s account details, including his email address, a digital copy of his driver’s license and a photo he had uploaded.\n\nSasser was arrested earlier this month and has been federally charged. Court records show he waived a preliminary hearing and was released on April 10 into the custody of his father. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia ordered him to remain on around-the-clock home confinement with limited travel exceptions and prohibited him from contacting Ybarra, Wexler or Deuskar and others named in the case.\n\nThe court also barred Sasser from gambling, entering gambling establishments, using social media and accessing websites with real-time customer service chat functions. A federal public defender was appointed to represent him.\n\nMatthew Wein, a former Department of Homeland Security official who follows security issues in sports betting, wrote that operators and regulators face these types of threats and may not be prepared for them.\n\nLaw enforcement and sports organizations have responded to several recent incidents in which people made threats after losing bets. Lawmakers and the NCAA have urged limits on certain wager types to try to reduce those threats.\n\nPrizePicks is a Georgia-based sports gaming operator that expanded from single-player daily fantasy sports into peer-to-peer contests and prediction markets. Early investors included Phil Hellmuth and Andruw Jones. In January, Swiss-based Allwyn International AG completed a $1.53 billion purchase for a 62.3% stake in the company.\n\nFederal authorities continue the investigation and rely in part on the company-provided account information and the chat transcript included in the FBI affidavit.