The co-owner of an online poker site was sentenced to 14 months in prison yesterday after he admitted to deceiving banks about processing gambling proceedings.
Brent Beckley, who has co-owned Absolute Poker since 2003, worked as the company’s head of processing. Last year, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to break U.S. laws pertaining to Internet gambling, as well as conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud. Although Beckley surrendered and cooperated with authorities, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said he deserved prison time because "the sentence has to make clear that the government of the United States means business in these types of cases."
In court on Monday, Beckley told Judge Kaplan he had fooled himself into thinking what he was doing was OK.
Beckley is far from the first Internet poker owner to go down. Federal prosecutors have charged 11 people at Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars—three of the biggest online poker sites.
Read more InsideCounsel stories about online poker sites:
Full Title Poker CEO finally surrenders to U.S. authorities
Absolute Poker co-founder pleads guilty
Cozen O’Connor responds to Full Tilt Poker lawsuit
Cozen O’Connor sued in relation to alleged Full Tilt Poker Ponzi scheme
