Home / Poker News December 2011 / AP Cofounder Brent Beckley Pleads Guilty
AP Cofounder Brent Beckley Pleads Guilty
Posted by: Randy Williams - Wed, 2011-12-21 03:09
The ripples generated by the Black Friday indictments haven’t yet settled: on December 20, AP cofounder Brent Beckley caved in and pleaded guilty to the criminal charges brought forth in the said indictments. The charges included conspiracy to commit bank fraud as well as wire fraud.
According to the 2006 UIGEA, it is unlawful for US financial institutions to facilitate transfers to and from online gambling and
online poker operations. Beckley admitted to having made arrangements with banks to facilitate the above said types of transactions, while fully aware of the UIGEA provisions concerning the matter.
Reportedly, he told Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis that he knew what he was doing was illegal. Beckley had made concrete efforts the circumvent US law, using various shell companies and fraudulently disguised deposits to make ends meet for his online poker business.
Apparently, Beckley’s guilty pleading was part of a deal that would send him to prison for a year and half instead of the 30 year maximum he would otherwise have gotten. The actual sentencing is set for April 30.
Ira Rubin, another person involved in the Black Friday indictments, is rumored to be working on a plea deal of his own.
In other news: the
WSOP circuit is on route to logging a record-setting year. Attendance numbers are up, and so are prize-pools and player interest is soaring. Attendance is said to have increased by an impressive 25%, while prize-pools shot northward by 33%. The WSOP-C’s Horseshoe Hammond event set a new record for the series, with a starting field of 3,001 participants.
6 stops of the projected 17 of the season are already behind us and 12 seats in the 100 seat WSOP-C National Championship have been locked up.
The action will be hot on New Year’s day too, when the Circuit heads to LA’s Bicycle Casino. The following stop will take place at the Choktaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma.
