08 Feb 12

Judge Decides John Campos and Chad Elie Will Go to Trial for Black Friday Case

Despite filing a brief which supplemented their motions for dismissal this week, a United States Judge has denied John Campos and Chad Elie in their request for Black Friday charges against them to be dropped. Find out the details.

On Monday, a supplemental brief was filed with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of Chad Elie and John Campos. Both men are facing several Black Friday charges for their involvement with payment processing.

The brief's purpose was to support the motions for dismissal that Elie and Campos filed on September 30, 2011. The original motions alleged that poker was exempt from United States law because it is a game of primarily skill, and thus the payments they had processed on behalf of poker sites were not illegal. Therefore, they argued, the case against them should be dropped.

The defense's revised arguments

Monday's brief makes the same general argument as the original motions did, but it includes additional details related to the United States Department of Justice's (DOJ) decision that the Wire Act doesn't apply to online poker.

The defense argues that the DOJ's Wire Act ruling impacts their own case in two major ways:
  1. It confirms that the Illegal Gambling Business Act of 1970 (IGBA) should not apply to online poker.
    Basically, the defense is stating that if the Wire Act doesn't apply to poker, IGBA must also not apply to poker because the manner in which each law defines "gambling" is so similar. Both Elie and Campos are charged with IGBA violations.
  2. It is proof that IGBA and UIGEA are too vague to be used against them.
    The defense points out that the Wire Act has been interpreted in drastically different ways over the span of the law's life. Furthermore, the defense argues that IGBA and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) are vague and ambiguous for the same reasons as the Wire Act, and that they too can reasonably be interpreted in several ways. Therefore, those laws should not apply to Elie and Campos.
The conclusion of the brief states that "For the foregoing reasons, and for those more fully set forth in defendants' earlier memoranda, Chad Elie and John Campos respectfully request that the Court dismiss all counts of the Indictment against them."

Request denied

Just one day after the brief was filed, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan denied the defendants' motions for dismissal. This means that Elie and Campos will have to appear in court within the next few months.

Judge Kaplan responded to the motions via a memorandum opinion filed on Tuesday. His primary reason for the quick denial is that in the United States, it is well established that there is no summary judgment in criminal cases. This means that it would be impossible for the defendants to receive a dismissal from their charges with so many details surrounding the case still unclear.

It should be noted that the denial is not indicative of the strength of the defendants' case - it simply means that the judge has determined that there should be a trial in order to evaluate whether or not the men are guilty. Campos and Elie are expected to appear in court in either March or April.

PokerStrategy.com will continue to follow and report on this case and all other developments pertaining to Black Friday.

Related Documents and Stories
• Memorandum Opinion (Filed Feb 7)
• Defendants' Supplemental Submission in Support of Motions to Dismiss the Indictment (Filed Feb 6)
• United States DOJ: Wire Act Doesn't Apply to Online Poker (Dec 24)
• John Campos and Chad Elie File Motions for Dismissal from Black Friday Charges (Oct 2)

by Matt Kaufman