Ira Rubin Sentenced to 3 Years in Jail

Ira Rubin, one of the payment processors who helped online poker rooms conduct illegal transactions with American customers, received his sentence on Thursday.

Following Brent Beckley's 14 month sentence earlier this week, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York has sentenced Ira Rubin to 3 years in prison.

Rubin was one of the largest processors of fraudulent transactions between Americans and offshore poker rooms. He worked with all 3 poker sites which were indicted on Black Friday - PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker/UB - and helped process billions of dollars of transactions.

On Black Friday, he was indicted by the United States and was one of the few people to be charged with ALL of the 9 counts listed in the original indictment.

In January of 2012 Rubin pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy and faced a maximum sentence of up to 55 years. The guideline sentence was much lower, however, at 18 to 24 months.

Although Judge Kaplan stayed on the lower end of Brent Beckley's sentencing guideline, he decided not to show any leniency when sentencing Rubin to 3 years in prison.

According to Bloomberg, Judge Kaplan told Rubin that he's "an unreformed conman and fraudster." He expressed his belief that the lengthy sentence is "necessary to protect the community."

When he is eventually released from prison, Rubin will not be allowed to return to any job in the banking industry.

As always, PokerStrategy.com will continue to report on all developments related to Black Friday cases.

by Matt Kaufman