The PokerStars founder faces up to five years in jail for offering poker games in the US after the UIGEA was enacted.
At the start of the year PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg handed himself in to US authorities, though pleaded not guilty to the charges he faced surrounding poker’s Black Friday.
However, yesterday he pleaded guilty in a New York court to operating illegal gambling and now he faces up to five years in jail.
US Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman commented: “Ten years ago, this Office charged 11 defendants who operated, or provided fraudulent payment processing services to, three of the largest online poker companies then operating in the United States – PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker – with operating illegal gambling businesses and other crimes. As Isai Scheinberg’s guilty plea today shows, the passage of time will not undermine this Office’s commitment to holding accountable individuals who violate US law.”
PokerStars offered poker games to players all over the world and in 2006 the US enacted the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) making it illegal to knowingly offer unregulated gambling games online in America. PokerStars, along with Full Tilt and Absolute Poker, continued to offer games in the US until 2011, when on April 15 the Department of Justice blocked all the sites. It became known as Black Friday in the poker industry.
Sentencing for the 73-year-old will take place at a later date and Congress has recommended a maximum penalty of up to five years.
source https://casinonewsblogger.com/isai-scheinberg-pleads-guilty-to-black-friday-charges/
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