Elie and Campos request presentation to jury
Arguments presented in new motion from Black Friday defendants considered "irrelevant" by US government.
Chad Elie and John Campos, two of the alleged payment processors due to stand trial following the Black Friday indictments, have requested the opportunity to present their case before a jury.
A motion in limine, filed last week, reiterates the duo’s arguments regarding the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and the Illegal Gambling Business Act (IGBA).
Elie and Campos introduced the motion with the explanation that they “[S]eek to introduce evidence that peer-to-peer poker is predominantly a game of skill to challenge the government’s allegations that the charged conduct constitutes “unlawful internet gambling” and “a game subject to chance” under [UIGEA].”
The United States government has, however filed its own motion in limine in response to that of the defendants, explaining their position that “The extent to which poker involves skill is…irrelevant to the application of UIGEA [and IGBA].”
The response makes reference to Jeremy Johnson, the Utah businessman accused last week of having hidden US$51.4m in funds tied to online poker. Chad Elie is named as a “silent partner” in Johnson’s acquisition of a share in SunFirst Bank, the Utah institution of which Campos was also a part-owner.
It also draws attention to a 2009 opinion from long-time Full Tilt Poker lawyer Ian Imrich, detailing why online poker does not fall under the jurisdiction of UIGEA, with the government alleging that this opinion “[S]imply ignored precedent under state law and IGBA treating poker as a form of gambling.” The Imrich opinion is said to have been seen by Elie, Campos and Johnson, among others.
Elie and Campos were among 11 individuals named in the indictments unsealed by US authorities in April last year, and are expected to be the first of those charged to go before court.
They filed motions to dismiss in October, before submitting new applications this month in the light of December’s Wire Act opinion from the Department of Justice (DoJ), however Judge Lewis Kaplan denied the motions on the grounds that their claims about poker not being classed as gambling represented a matter to be discussed at trial rather than beforehand.
Both Elie and Campos are expected to stand trial in April in the Southern District of New York. Three of their fellow defendants, payment processors Bradley Franzen and Ira Rubin and Absolute Poker co-founder Brent Beckley, are the only defendants to date to have entered guilty pleas.