The founder of the PokerStars site, Isai Scheinberg, has pleaded guilty to illegal gambling in a New York court, which in doing so, will bring to an end the decade long Black Friday saga. For those unaware Black Friday was so called named by the poker community, after 11 defendants were charged by the US Department of Justice on 15th April 2011.
Yesterday Geoffrey Berman, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York confirmed that Scheinberg had pled guilty to the single charge of operating an illegal business, with Scheinberg now facing a maximum prison sentence of 5 years.
Commenting about the news of Scheinberg’s plea, Berman said: “Ten years ago, this Office charged 11 defendants who operated, or provided fraudulent payment processing services to, three of the largest online poker companies then operating in the United States – PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker – with operating illegal gambling businesses and other crimes.”
“As Isai Scheinberg’s guilty plea today shows, the passage of time will not undermine this Office’s commitment to holding accountable individuals who violate U.S. law.”
Earlier in January this year, Scheinberg surrendered to US authorities after being arrested in Switzerland in June 2019. Scheinberg founded PokerStars in 2001 and continued to operate the company after the UIGEA came into force in 2006. In 2014, Scheinberg sold the company for $4.9 billion to David Baazov and the Amaya Gaming Group.
