Elie, Campos Seek Dismissal of Black Friday Charges

Two of the individuals who were named in the Black Friday indictments have decided to meet their charges head on, attempting to have their charges dismissed. Both of the individuals, Chad Elie and John Campos, were named because of their roles in payment processing companies, rather than any direct involvement in online poker rooms.

Elie was charged with nine different counts: four for violations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, three for operating an illegal gambling business, one for conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, and one money laundering conspiracy charge.

According to Subject: Poker, Elie’s lawyer has said that Elie should fall under the exemption UIGEA sets for financial transaction providers, and that neither the sites or the payment processors would fit UIGEA’s definition of “persons engaged in the business of wagering.” It appears that arguing that poker is not “a game subject to chance” will also be a part of this defense.

In addition, Elie’s attorney has stated that the IGBA definitions for an “illegal gambling business” are too vague, and that they do not apply to poker. On the final two charges, they claim that the bank and wire fraud charge is invalid because Elie’s actions were not meant to bring harm to the banks involved, which, in fact, made money. Finally, the money laundering charges are dependent on the IGBA charges, and thus are invalid if the IGBA charges are dismissed.

Reportedly, Campos’ defense is being framed in much the same way as Elie’s. Campos, who was the Vice Chairman of SunFirst Bank, helped process payment for PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Due to the fact that he wasn’t involved in payments with Absolute Poker, he was only subject to six charges (three UIGEA charges, two IGBA charges, and money laundering).

While the majority of the charges are probably only of passing interest to poker players, the charges that revolve around UIGEA could be critical to the short-term future of poker in the United States. Since UIGEA laws are often cited as the reason for poker sites choosing not to do business in the United States, the absence of such laws – or a finding that poker is a fundamentally skill-based game – could have immediate ramifications on the online poker landscape.