The government got its man Thursday in New York when a federal judge sentenced high-rolling sports gambler and golf-course developer Billy Walters to 60 months in prison for insider stock trading.

It’s a sure bet that Las Vegas police detectives and FBI agents celebrated the news. Walters has been high on their list of Southern Nevada’s most corruptive influences for three decades. Over that time, he beat three previous indictments at the local, state and federal levels and gained a reputation as the wisest of the Vegas wiseguys, one who appeared capable of outfoxing just about everyone. Whether it was a jaw-dropping government land deal for one of his golf course projects, or a gushing feature from the normally hard-hitting “60 Minutes,” he always seemed to get the best of it.

But Walters entered a different league when he began hustling inside information on Dallas-based Dean Foods Co., whose former chairman Thomas Davis he’d befriended and, of course, had bet against. Indebted to Walters, Davis became an ideal inside source and shared information good enough for Walters to make $32 million in profit on stock deals and avoid another $11 million in losses with timely selloffs.

Then it all fell apart. An FBI investigation squeezed cooperation from Davis and led to the exposure of Walters’ clandestine setup that had the corporate insider using code words, nicknames and a “burner” cell phone to transmit valuable information. Even revealing Davis’s sleazy private life didn’t change the damning facts against Walters. From an evidence standpoint, the FBI investigation and DOJ prosecution nailed Walters’ scalp to the courthouse wall.

His legal ordeal didn’t sap his confidence. Not by a long shot. This is Billy Walters we’re talking about.

Even after his indictment in a case that resulted in an April conviction on 10 counts of fraud and conspiracy, he was still spotted at the Clark County Government Center attempting to improve his position regarding the Strip’s Bali Hai Golf Club. Some folks might call that audacious.

In the wake of his conviction, some longtime political allies sweated being asked to write letters lauding Walters’ character and place in the community as a philanthropist. But others didn’t mind a bit.

Walters had many heavyweight Nevadans in his corner. Topping his list of character witnesses is former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who lauded the gambler’s generosity at Opportunity Village and offered, “I do not see how this man getting probation would, in any way, adversely affect the criminal justice system."

Walters’ character was just as stellar in the eyes of former Las Vegas Mayors Jan Jones Blackhurst and Oscar Goodman, and current Mayor Carolyn Goodman. Details of Walters’ controversial conversion of many acres of city real estate into golf course projects weren’t included in their laudatory remarks.

From the sports world, letters poured in from tennis legend Andre Agassi and PGA winners Jim Colbert and Peter Jacobsen. One name missing from the sports pages was PGA titan Phil Mickelson, a Walters pal who used a little insider information to make approximately $1 million on Dean Food shares.

Maybe Mickelson should change his nickname from “Lefty” to “Lucky.” He wasn’t charged in the criminal case, but he was forced to give back the ill-gotten gains as part of a settlement with federal investigators and prosecutors.

Walters’ lead defense attorney, Barry Berke, submitted to the court an impressive, 89-page sentencing memorandum filled with the defendant’s impressive rise from a broken home in Kentucky to the height of American business success and philanthropic largesse. Veteran U.S. District Judge Kevin P. Castel wasn’t overcome with sentiment, calling Walters “a cheater and a criminal, and not a very clever one.”

If the judge was at all swayed, it might have been by the letters associated with the gambler’s favorite charity, Opportunity Village. Like a character out of Damon Runyon, the fixer Walters was an angel for the nonprofit that for decades has assisted adults with disabilities.

Five years in prison is a long time for anyone, and especially for a 71-year-old multimillionaire used to flying from mansion to mansion in a private jet. But considering the evidence, it could have been worse.

Even if Walters couldn’t change the fact he’d used insider information to bilk a company and score millions on Wall Street, that wiseguy wonderland where historically he was little more than a piker, he could check the bottom line and surmise that he’d still done all right.

The prosecution wanted a 10-year sentence. He got five.

All things considered, it wasn’t such a bad beat, after all.

John L. Smith is a longtime Las Vegas journalist and author. Contact him at [email protected]. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith.