Revised Elie/Campos motion denied
Judge Lewis Kaplan issues denial within one day of initial submission by defendants.
Black Friday indictees John Campos and Chad Elie have seen their respective motions to dismiss denied by Judge Lewis Kaplan.
The denial arrived just one day after the alleged payment processors submitted revised motions in the light of December’s Wire Act clarification from the United States Department of Justice.
However Judge Kaplan was keen to note that “there is no summary judgement in criminal cases”, with his response meaning Elie and Campos are still due to stand trial in New York in April.
The judge had previously noted, upon the submission of the duo’s initial motions last October, that “I think it’s extraordinarily unlikely that the entire indictment will be dismissed.”
He saw no reason to dismiss any of the counts brought against Elie and Campos, either under the Illegal Gambling Business Act (IGBA) or the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), and states that “Unless there is a stipulated record, or unless immunity issues are implicated, a pretrial motion to dismiss an indictment is not a permissible vehicle for addressing the sufficiency of the government’s evidence.”
Kaplan also addressed the defendants’ joint claim that “poker is not gambling”, explaining: “If poker constitutes gambling as a matter of law, defendants are not entitled to dismissal of the IGBA counts. If it instead raises an issue of fact, it is a matter for trial, not disposition on a motion addressed to the indictment.”
Both Campos and Elie were arrested on Black Friday after indictments naming them and nine other individuals (including principals of Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and Absolute Poker) were unsealed by US authorities.
A third indictee, Bradley Franzen, has pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him, while another alleged payment processor, Ira Rubin, entered a guilty plea last month.