Ira Rubin Reaches Plea Bargain in Black Friday Indictments

The United States Department of Justice now has their 2nd conviction in connection with the Black Friday indictments.  Earlier today, Ira Ruben pleased guilty to conspiracy in Manhatten federal court.

Ruben was one of the payment processors indicted back in April and was originally facing nine count that included money laundering, violations of the UIGEA, and conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud.  Ruben worked for multiple online poker companies at one time or another and according to federal prosecutors moved “billions of dollars in illegal gambling proceeds.”

According to the details of the plea bargain, Rubin will serve just 18 to 24 months in prison, and that sentence could potentially be reduced.  Rubin was arrested in April in connection with the Black Friday indictments and has been in jail since.

This plea deal comes a little less than a month after co-founder of Absolute Poker Brett Buckley pleaded guilty to similar charges.  Two others indicted on Black Friday, John Campos and Chad Elie, are both scheduled to go to trial in March.  However, there is still plenty of time left for both of them to make a deal.

This is the 3rd overall conviction in relation to the UIGEA.  Earlier in December, Daniel Eremain and Todd Lyons were convicted of violations of what many had considered to be an “unenforceable law.”  Now that the DOJ is beginning to rack up the convictions, it may become increasingly difficult for others to make a strong case.

Some are hoping that the “luck vs. skill” debate will be aired out in federal court, but others feel that it will have little bearing on the fact that Campos and Elie, as well as others, blatantly circumvented the existing law.

Odds are we will hear more regarding Campos and Elie prior to March and as always, we will bring you more on this story as it develops.