When Addison Choi was a 21-year-old college soccer player for Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts he developed a nasty habit. He bet heavily on sports and lost.
According to MassLive, Choi now faces some serious repercussions for his habit in college, as his gambling set into action a string of violent and racist threats whenever he lost money. Choi made multiple threats to multiple athletes during his time as a fervent gambler. He would target certain individuals on Instagram who he felt were at fault whenever he lost money due to a poor bet.
Choi has been charged for one count of transmitting a threat to injure a person and could end up in prison for 21-27 months. He has pleaded guilty to a federal count of transmitting threats in interstate commerce.
Here’s what you need to know:
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1. Choi’s Threats Were Full of Violent & Racist Rhetoric
- Choi typically took to Instagram to make his threats, and he didn’t hold back one bit.
“I HOPE YOU F*CKING DIE YOU STUPID MONKEY N*****,” read one of the threats according to court documents.
“I’LL FIND YOUR F*CKING FAMILY AND SKIN THEM ALIVE YOU STUPID F*CK, I HOPE YOU NEVER PLAY AGAIN,” Choi posted.
Choi also targeted whole teams through Instagram.
“YOU DUMB F*CKS BETTER RELEASE [PLAYER’S NAME] THAT DUMB F*CKING N*****,” read another threat, per court documents.
The documents noted that Choi never censored himself when using the n-word or f-word.
2. Choi Also Targeted Players’ Loved Ones
On top of targeting the pages of teams and players who he bet on, Choi also chose to harass the loved ones of players.
“In addition to sending threats to players’ and teams’ Instagram pages, CHOI sometimes sent similar threats to the Instagram pages of players’ loved ones,” the court documents said. “For example on August 12, 2017, CHOI posted on the Instagram page of the girlfriend of a professional athlete, ‘YOU STUPID MOTHERF*CKER [NAME], YOU WORTHLESS F*CK. I WILL F*CKING KILL YOU,’ and, ‘I WILL F*CKING KILL [NAME] YOU DUMB F*CKING BITCH… LEAVE THAT IRRELEVANT STUPID MOTHERF*CKER.'”
United States District Court of Massachusetts Screenshot of a portion of the court documents.
Full court documents can be read here.
Choi’s threats were made between July 27, 2017, to December 6, 2017.
3. Choi Used Many Different Burner Instagram Accounts
According to court documents, Choi targeted up to 45 different Instagram accounts posting violent and racist threats to the pages and messages of different teams and players.
“To avoid detection, CHOI posted these threats on Instagram accounts that he created – using pseudonyms – for the sole purpose of sending threats, rather than the Instagram that he used to share personal photos with his friends and family,” the court documents said.
Choi also created a multitude of email accounts so he could continue to avoid Instagram’s attempt to keep him off their platform.
4. Due to His Gambling Habits, Choi Fell Into Serious Debt
Choi did not discriminate when it came to the type of sport he chose to gamble on.
“CHOI gambled prolifically on sports, including baseball, football, basketball, hockey, soccer, and tennis,” the Court documents said. “The players and teams that he gambled on belonged to professional and collegiate leagues, both domestic and international.”
The 21-year-old, at the time, fell into serious debt as he typically lost more money than he won. He would then borrow money from friends and family to pay off debts and gamble more, per court documents.
5. Choi Lived in California but Spent Most of His Recent Years in New England
Choi went to school in Massachusetts but when not in school he would spend time in California, according to court documents.
Prior to attending Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts Choi attended Connecticut prep school Choate Rosemary Hall, per MassLive.
Babson College is a private business school right outside of Boston. It has an undergraduate enrollment of just over 2,000 students.
Choi is from Fullerton, California.