Beckley Pleads Guilty!

Absolute Poker co-founder and Black Friday indictee enters his plea in Manhattan court One of the 11 Black Friday indictees and a founder of Absolute Poker, Brent Beckley pleaded guilty on Dec. 20 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis in Manhattan. This way he admitted the charge of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and conspiracy to violate an Internet gambling law. “I knew that it was illegal to accept credit cards from players to gamble on the Internet,” Beckley stated. “I knew that it was illegal to deceive the banks in this way.” He also confirmed that he hired fellow defendant Ira Rubin in 2008 to process e-checks for Absolute Poker as payroll processing, affiliate marketing or online electronics merchant transactions. For this felony he may get 12 to 18 months in prison, and he will hear the final ruling on April 19 2012. To remind the readers, Beckley and other defendants reportedly helped conceal money received from U.S. gamblers by disguising it as payments to hundreds of non-existent online merchants. After the hearing, when approached for comment, Beckley's attorney, Robert Cleary declined to give a statement.