Poker Web site co-owner sentenced to 14 months
7/24/2012NEW YORK -- An owner of Absolute Poker, one of the three largest Internet poker companies, was sentenced Monday to 14 months in prison after admitting to deceiving banks over the processing of gambling proceeds.
Brent Beckley, 32, joined Costa Rica-based Absolute Poker in 2003 and became its head of payment processing. Last December, he pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to break U.S. laws against gambling on the Internet. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged 11 people at the three biggest online poker companies: Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker, and PokerStars. The U.S. government also seized their Internet domain names.