Campos and Elie file new motions to dismiss
Lawyers for Black Friday defendants argue that IGBA does not apply to poker.
John Campos and Chad Elie, two of the defendants named in the Black Friday indictments, have filed new motions to dismiss in light of December’s Wire Act clarification.
Lawyers for the two alleged payment processors argue the clarification demonstrates that the Illegal Gambling Business Act (IGBA) “Does not apply to poker”, and that the apparent change of position on the legislation from the US government “highlights the vagueness of IGBA and UIGEA and supports the dismissal of those counts.”
Elie’s representation for the latest motion, New York law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, was brought in by the indictee in place of former attorneys William Cowden LLC in January.
Lawyers representing both Campos (pictured) and Elie allege in their joint submission that “The government’s aggressive deployment of the Wire Act has been particularly prevalent in [the Southern District of New York],” citing convictions and forfeitures tied to online poker including the case of PartyGaming founder Anurag DIkshit, who signed a plea deal in December 2010.
They continue to argue that “For decades, DOJ enforced the Wire Act against people it now concedes had not violated it,” adding that “The same problem exists with respect to IGBA and UIGEA and warrants dismissal in this case.”
Furthermore, they argue that “[T]he government’s past conduct with regard to IGBA should be afforded little if any weight,” citing the previously “adamant” DoJ argument that the Wire Act applied to poker and thereby demonstrating the “flawed application” of the act by authorities in the past. They call, therefore, for all counts of the indictment against the two defendants to be dismissed.
October’s original motions to dismiss from Elie and Campos were debated in court in December, with Judge Lewis Kaplan noting that “I think it’s extraordinarily unlikely that the entire indictment will be dismissed.” The first of the Black Friday defendants are expected to appear in court on 9 April.