ABSOLUTE POKER FINANCE MAN GETS 14 MONTHS IN JAIL

Wednesday July 25, 2012 :  ABSOLUTE POKER FINANCE MAN GETS 14 MONTHS IN JAIL (Update)
 
Brent Beckley sentenced at last
 
The erstwhile finance man at Absolute Poker and Black Friday indictee, 32-year-old Brent Beckley, has been sentenced after some delay to 14 months in prison by Judge Lewis Kaplan.
 
Earlier this year Beckley pleaded guilty to conspiring to break U.S. laws against gambling on the Internet conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud.
 
The sentencing delay was occasioned by the judge's concern that the relatively mild punishment suggested for Beckley by authorities satisfied with his cooperation was not appropriate. Judge Kaplan tasked prosecutors with further justifying their recommendation  before he would pass sentence.
 
The Reuters news service reports that on Monday the judge handed down a sentence of 14 months after considering representations made by the prosecution.
 
Judge Kaplan told Beckley that he deserved a term of imprisonment, remarking: “the sentence has to make clear that the government of the United States means business in these types of cases."
 
Beckley responded by saying he had “fooled myself into thinking that what I was doing was OK.”
 
Beckley has also agreed to a forfeiture of $300,000 and a possible fine up to $30,000.
 
Four other Black Friday defendants who have entered guilty pleas await sentencing: payment processors Chad Elie, due for sentencing in October; Ryan Lang who comes up for sentencing in the third week of September; Ira Rubin still awaits a sentencing date, as does Bradley Franzen.