With millions of dollars already being bet illegally on sporting events in the U.S., one New Jersey official has taken action to legalize the potentially lucrative activity. 

According to reports from the Associated Press and Press of Atlantic City, Senator Raymond Lesniak has filed a federal lawsuit against the Justice Department to overturn a U.S. ban on sports betting in 46 states. 

Lesniak's lawsuit seeks to overturn the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which restricts sports betting to the four states: Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon with only Nevada and Montana currently taking bets.  

"Rather than supporting thousands of jobs, economic activity and tourism, the federal ban supports offshore operators and organized crime." Lesniak was quoted in the AP story.  

The lawsuit names U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Ralph Marra Jr., New Jersey's acting U.S. attorney, as defendants. The AP story cited a U.S. Justice Department spokesman as saying the government will review the lawsuit but declined further comment.

The AP story estimates that sports betting could become a $10 billion industry in New Jersey by 2011 and could generate nearly $100 million a year in tax revenues for the state.