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Electronic Gambling Report: Federal Civil And Criminal Cases2 December 2000Dec. 2, 2000 --In March 1998, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York indicted 21 U.S. citizens for conspiracy to transmit bets and wagers on sporting events via the Inter-net, in violation of the Interstate Wire Act of 1961. At that time, the U.S. Attorney General issued a statement indicating that Internet gaming would be considered illegal under existing federal law. The defendants were owners, operators, and managers of nine offshore sports betting companies based in Curaçao, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Antigua, all of whom had conducted some part of their business in the United States. All were identified after federal agents placed telephone bets via an 800 number from New York (territory where such bets are illegal) and were paid when successful. One defendant, the president of SDP Global of Costa Rica, pled guilty and promised to pay a fine of $750,000 and close his operation. As of February 2000, ten other defendants had pled guilty to the charges and reached settlements, and six remained officially fugitives because they had not answered the charges. As of that date, only one defendant, Jay Cohen, had gone to trial. On February 28, 2000, the United States District Court in Manhattan found Cohen, the owner of the Antigua-licensed World Sports Exchange, guilty of violating the Federal Wire Act. |