A Babson College student lost money betting, then took to Instagram and threatened athletes’ lives, feds say

Federal prosecutors charged a 23-year-old former Babson College soccer player Wednesday with sending dozens of threats to collegiate and professional athletes over social media nearly two years ago.

Addison Choi, of Fullerton, California, allegedly sent threats — some of them racist — to at least 45 athletes through Instagram comments while he was a college student between July and December 2017, according to a statement from the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Choi signed a plea agreement filed Wednesday and is awaiting a plea hearing to be scheduled, a U.S. Attorney spokesperson said Thursday.

Authorities allege Choi, who played varsity soccer for Babson, gambled on professional and collegiate sports frequently and lost more often than he won. When he lost, Choi took to Instagram, where he posted death threats to the players on teams he bet on, prosecutors said.

A Babson spokesperson told Boston.com Thursday that Choi has not attended the school since September 2018.

“There is a difference between free speech — even hate speech — and intentionally putting others in fear for their lives,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said in a statement Wednesday. “Mr. Choi crossed that line. Based on today’s charging document, and hiding behind the anonymity of social media, he threatened his victims in graphically violent, often racist terms. We take seriously internet-based threats of violence, especially racist ones — they undermine our nation’s hard-won, fundamental values of equality.”

Officials said the alleged threats were posted on at least 45 different Instagram accounts, where Choi made multiple threats, with numerous targets, on each one. In some cases, threats appeared on the accounts of athletes’ loved ones, according to prosecutors.

“As alleged, Addison Choi made dozens of vile and racist death threats targeting professional and collegiate athletes and their families,” Joseph Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Division, said in a statement. “He waged a very public campaign of intimidation against them, blaming them for his own prolific gambling losses.

“Let this case serve as another warning to others who think they can hide behind a keyboard and get away with making violent threats that put others in fear for their lives,” he added. “Enough is enough.”

Choi, who will appear in Boston federal court at a later date, is charged with one count of transmitting in interstate and foreign commerce a threat to injure the person of another, officials said.

He faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, restitution, and a $250,000 fine, authorities said.