The former CEO of online sportsbook Legendz Sports has been spared jail time due to a judge’s belief that illegal sports betting is a victimless crime.

On Thursday, a federal judge in Oklahoma sentenced Bartice ‘Luke’ King to five years of probation, of which the first five months will be spent under house arrest at King’s home in Texas. King, who was convicted in 2015 on charges of illegal gambling and money laundering conspiracy, was also ordered to pay $12.6m in penalties.

In 2013, the Department of Justice and the US Attorney’s office for the Western District of Oklahoma indicted 34 individuals connected with the Panama-licensed Legendz operation. All of the other defendants have already been sentenced, and none of them ended up facing custodial sentences beyond Philip Guiran, who was sentenced to time served in April 2014.

King had been facing up to 41 months in stripes but US District Judge Stephen Friot declined to put King behind bars, in part due to Friot’s view that sports betting isn’t a detriment to society at large. During Thursday’s sentencing, Friot cited a jury foreman’s letter in the trial of two other Legendz defendants suggesting probation for the pair.