Florida gambling helpline director sentenced to nearly 10 years over $1.4m theft to fund addiction

Philip Sullivan, who sought to rebuild his life after gambling addiction, convicted of stealing from real-estate employer A Florida man who stole more than $1m from his employer to bankroll a gambling problem – before becoming the director of his state’s gambling addiction helpline in trying to make amends – was recently sentenced to nearly a decade in prison. Bay county, Florida, authorities charged Philip Sullivan in March 2024 with stealing $1.4m from the Panama City Beach real-estate company for which he was the chief financial officer, Royal American, as local news outlets WMBB and WJHG had previously reported. Continue reading...

Ramon Antonio Vargas · Wed, Oct 21, 2026, 2:00 AM
US news | The Guardian

Florida gambling helpline director sentenced to nearly 10 years over $1.4m theft to fund addiction

Philip Sullivan, who sought to rebuild his life after gambling addiction, convicted of stealing from real-estate employer

A Florida man who stole more than $1m from his employer to bankroll a gambling problem – before becoming the director of his state’s gambling addiction helpline in trying to make amends – was recently sentenced to nearly a decade in prison.

Bay county, Florida, authorities charged Philip Sullivan in March 2024 with stealing $1.4m from the Panama City Beach real-estate company for which he was the chief financial officer, Royal American, as local news outlets WMBB and WJHG had previously reported.

This page shows an excerpt; reporting belongs to the original publisher. Some images or embeds may be omitted compared with the live article.