Black Friday Defendants Motion to Dismiss Denied by Federal Judge

John Campos and Chad Elie attempted to have their Black Friday charges dismissed once again this past Monday in Federal court. Lawyers for the pair submitted their arguments related to the recent Department of Justice memo that claims that the Wire Act of 1961 can only be applied to sports betting.

Essentially, the arguments by the lawyers were that the recent memo made neither the Illegal Gambling Business Act and the Unlawful Gaming Enforcement Act applicable to poker. In addition, they continued to argue that poker is not a form of gambling. This is on top of the arguments previously stated in December where they claimed that as payment processors, the UIGEA did not apply to them.

The DOJ filed their own memorandum on Monday in Federal Court. It stated that, “Ultimately, however, the Opinion does not resolve this potential conflict and, in fact, does not analyze, or draw any conclusions about, the UIGEA, the Illegal Gambling Businesses Act of 1970 (“IGBA”), 18 U.S.C. § 1955, or any other statute at issue in the defendants’ motions. Rather, the Opinion determines that the proposed lotteries are lawful based on its conclusion about the scope of the Wire Act, and specifically its conclusion that the Wire Act applies only to sports betting and not lotteries . . . Given this conclusion, the Opinion did not find it “necessary to address to address the Wire Act’s interaction with UIGEA, or to analyze UIGEA in any other respect.”

In addition they argued that the DOJ opinion had no relevance to how the UIGEA or IGBA are interpreted. Furthermore, “the policy changes that flow from the Opinion are of no benefit to those offering internet poker in a manner that violates state gambling law, as is alleged in the indictment.”

Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan struck down the motions to dismiss on Tuesday, saying that the defendants’ claim that poker is not gambling is “surprising.” He also stated that, “Defendants’ argument that poker is not gambling fails, at least at this stage.” Also, he believes that “It would be inappropriate [to dismiss any count] for lack of proof at this point in time.”

Campos and Elie are both scheduled to go to trial next month, but now that it appears that trial is likely, do not be surprised if there is a plea bargain by the two well before the trial starts. If not, this could turn into a long and messy battle. We will continue to update you on this story as it develops.

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