Ray Bitar Makes Bail

Full Tilt Poker CEO Ray Bitar has made bail after spending roughly one week in jail. He will return to his home in California and remain under electronic monitoring until his trial.

Last week, Ray Bitar returned to the United States from Full Tilt headquarters in Ireland to turn himself over to federal authorities. He was arrested by the FBI when he arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.

He was met with a superseding indictment which includes both the original Black Friday charges against him as well as 4 new charges related to missing funds still owed to Full Tilt's players. Bitar pleaded not guilty.

Federal prosecutors argued that Bitar was a flight risk, but a Judge decided that a bail package could be reached.

According to Forbes, Judge Paul Engelmayer signed off on a bail package yesterday - after Bitar had spent a full week in jail. The package has the following terms:

•	Bitar must post a $2.5 million personal recognizance bond, secured by both cash and property.
•	Bitar must surrender his passport and not travel anywhere besides New York and California.
•	Five individuals close to Bitar are backing his commitment and thus will face charges if he doesn't honor the deal.
•	Bitar must not leave New York until he provides a full disclosure of all of his assets.
•	At his home in Glendora, California, Bitar will be electronically monitored.

Between all of the charges against him, Bitar now faces a maximum penalty of 145 years in jail.

Judge Lewis Kaplan, who has presided over most Black Friday-related cases, will not be involved with Bitar's trial in order to avoid a potential conflict of interest. This is because he used to work at Paul Weiss, a New York-based law firm where Bitar's attorney John F. Baughman is a partner.

As always, PokerStrategy.com will continue to monitor and report on this situation as it develops.

by Matt Kaufman