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.

An internal audit revealing numerous company credit card transactions that were unauthorized thrust Sullivan under scrutiny. He ultimately pleaded no contest to a half-dozen felony charges of grand theft on 16 October, when the Florida state judge Timothy Register adjudicated him guilty and sentenced him to nine years, eight and a half months in prison, court records show.

Character witnesses on behalf of Sullivan asserted in court that he developed a gambling addiction after being prescribed the pharmaceutical stimulant Adderall around the time of the thefts. In March 2025, a year after his employment with Royal American ended, Sullivan became the director of 888-Admit-It, the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling (FCCG)’s hotline, according to his page on the professional networking platform LinkedIn.

Sullivan, 43, appeared on the Addicted Recovery Show podcast a little more than a week before his sentencing and described his role at the FCCG helpline, which he undertook as he sought to rebuild his life in the wake of his criminal charges.

He said the helpline positioned him to speak with more than 460 people with struggles similar to his.

“It’s hard not to feel a certain way about gambling when it’s not only your account – but you talk to other people and you see … the pain that it’s causing them, too,” Sullivan – whom Register ordered to pay restitution – said on the podcast.

“I’m incredibly thankful for that opportunity. It has given me greater purpose than I feel like I’ve ever had in my life.”

On the podcast, Sullivan also recounted how he progressed from $25 sports bets to wagering $50,000 at a time – and losing more than $2m through gambling.

He said he was grateful his wife had stuck by him through his legal issues – and discussed how they would ready his sons, ages 12 and six, for the prospect of their father being imprisoned.

“We just have to prepare them for me being gone,” Sullivan said, becoming teary-eyed. “I can’t have them go to school that day [of the sentencing] wondering if … I’m going to be home.”

Sullivan was remanded to state custody after his sentencing hearing to begin serving his punishment. He received credit for 40 days he spent incarcerated between the time he was charged and when he made bail to await the resolution of the case from out of custody, court records show.

He has 30 days to appeal his sentence, WMBB reported.

The Guardian has requested comment from the attorney listed for Sullivan.

The National Council on Problem Gambling estimates that about 2.5 million adults annually meet the criteria for a severe gambling problem in the US, where commercial casinos as well as online betting and prediction markets are multibillion-dollar businesses. It estimates another 5 million to 8 million US adults would be considered to have mild or moderate gambling problems.