BLACK FRIDAY POKER INDICTMENT TO STICK

Friday, December 2,2011 :  Judge indicates it unlikely that Chad Elie and John Campos will have case dismissed at this point
 
In a pre-trial hearing in Manhattan this week, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan indicated that it is unlikely that he will dismiss a major illegal online gambling case involving Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.
 
Lawyers for two of the defendants, e-processors Chad Elie and John Campos, had earlier argued in court that the federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act prohibiting financial transactions with ‘illegal' online gambling operators does not apply to poker, and that the case against the two defendants should therefore be dismissed.
 
“I think it extraordinarily unlikely the entire indictment will be dismissed,” Judge Kaplan said at the end of the hearing today on U.S. v. Scheinberg, 10-cr-00336, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
 
He said he would rule later on the motion and that a trial, if held, would begin March 12.
 
Eleven defendants stand accused of bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling through the online companies PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.