Former Tilt CEO Bitar to avoid further jail time

Former Full Tilt chief executive Ray Bitar pleaded guilty yesterday and was sentenced to time served as well as forfeiture of his assets, believed to include his properties and US$40m in cash.

The Black Friday indictee is suffering from a serious heart condition requiring him to undergo a transplant. Bitar’s legal team requested he avoid jail time due to the condition, with Preska agreeing the severity of his heart troubles meant prison would likely be a “sentence of death”, reports the Associated Press.

Bitar appeared before US district court judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan via a videotape from a Los Angeles courtroom. In his plea, Bitar said: “I regret my actions. I know they were wrong and illegal. I am very sorry.”

Last year, he returned to the US for the first time since his indictment in April 2011, surrendering to US authorities and entering a guilty plea before being released on bail. Upon his return, a superseding indictment was unsealed against both Bitar and former FTP head of payments Nelson Burtnick. Burtnick subsequently pled guilty in September.

All five indicted payment processors have been sentenced to jail time, as has former Absolute Poker head of payments Brent Beckley. Judge Leonard B Sand, previously in charge of ongoing civil proceedings against Bitar and his fellow Full Tilt board members, all of whom have since arrived at settlements, requested last year these proceedings be put on hold until a resolution is reached with regard to the criminal case.

Meanwhile, former payment processor Chad Elie, who was sentenced to five months in prison in October last year, has filed a lawsuit against his former lawyer Jeff Ifrah, claiming Ifrah misled him about the legality of processing poker payments.