On Tuesday, District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan officially denied the motion to dismiss the charges against John Campos and Chad Elie. The men face charges in connection with the Black Friday indictments including violation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), the Illegal Gambling Business Act (IGBA), money laundering and operating an illegal gambling business.
In their motion to dismiss, Campos and Elie claimed that poker is a game of skill and not subject to laws governing gambling. Kaplan stated in an eight-page memorandum opinion that the contention that poker is not gambling is “surprising” and “fails, at least at this stage.”
Kaplan also denied the dismissal of the IGBA charges based on the defendants claims that the activities on the poker sites took place outside the jurisdiction of the US, indicating that the “appropriate time” to determine if the defendants were in violation of the IGBA “is not sooner than the close of all the proof at trial.”
In December of last year, Kaplan cautioned Elie and Campos, saying “I think it’s extraordinarily unlikely that the entire indictment will be dismissed.”
The judge held true to his word and as a result, Campos and Elie are scheduled to stand trial on March 12, 2012.
