Franzen first defendant to plead guilty in Black Friday indictments
The first of the Black Friday poker indicted, Bradley Franzen, plead guilty today to helping circumvent laws prohibiting the processing of Internet gambling payments as a result of UIGEA. On April 19, Franzen, 41, of Illinois had initially plead not guilty and was released on $200,000 bail after turning himself in to the FBI in New York. He had been included in the indictments and one of the compensated payment processors who lied to cover the true nature of their financial transactions.
Franzen could have faced more severe charges and a sentence up to 85 years in prison if convicted, but under the guilty plea, Franzen admitted to money laundering and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Franzen is cooperating with the probe and as the first will likely receive reduced sentencing. Franzen admitted "To avoid bank restrictions, they used shell companies and phony websites."He understood that millions of dollars were processed, but didn't know the full extent of the deception.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan will be buoyed by the cooperation and press forward to see resolution in the indictments of the remaining 10 indicted on April 15th. While PokerStars has cooperated in returning funds and seeking a negotiated resolution, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker representatives have been much slower to seek a resolution of issues.
Franzen could have faced more severe charges and a sentence up to 85 years in prison if convicted, but under the guilty plea, Franzen admitted to money laundering and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Franzen is cooperating with the probe and as the first will likely receive reduced sentencing. Franzen admitted "To avoid bank restrictions, they used shell companies and phony websites."He understood that millions of dollars were processed, but didn't know the full extent of the deception.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan will be buoyed by the cooperation and press forward to see resolution in the indictments of the remaining 10 indicted on April 15th. While PokerStars has cooperated in returning funds and seeking a negotiated resolution, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker representatives have been much slower to seek a resolution of issues.
