I don't know the applicable state law, but from the story he was betting 50 dollars on games every Sunday. The cop spent several months pretending to be his fri

I don't know the applicable state law, but from the story he was betting 50 dollars on games every Sunday. The cop spent several months pretending to be his friend and convincing him to bet more and more. It seems to me that he would never have bet anywhere near that much without several months of persuasion by the police. Therefore, if it weren't for the cop pressuring him it is very unlikely he would have ever broken that particular law. Granted it's a moot point, because as you say entrapment is a legal defense and the would-be defendant is dead.