US government optimistic of Black Friday settlement
Request made to adjourn pending deadlines in order to conclude settlement talks with relevant parties.
The United States government has requested an adjournment of several deadlines in the ongoing Black Friday case as it looks to bring settlement talks to a close.
In a letter addressed to Judge Leonard B Sand, the request calls for a “brief adjournment” and mentions the government’s desire “to facilitate, and hopefully, to successfully conclude, certain ongoing settlement communications.”
The deadlines cited in the letter “ signed on behalf of US district attorney Preet Bharara “ include those for motions to dismiss certain elements of the case and oppositions to all such motions.
While the government does not go into detail about which settlement communications it hopes to conclude, PokerStars is known to be in ongoing settlement discussions with an April blog from the operator’s director of corporate communications Eric Hollreiser explaining: “PokerStars is in settlement discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice. As such settlement discussions are always confidential, we are unable to comment on rumors.”
Hollreiser’s reference to ‘rumors’ [sic] has been understood to relate to a proposed takeover of inactive poker operator Full Tilt Poker by PokerStars. Suggested details of such a deal first emerged in late April, but no details have been made public in the two months since. It is unclear whether the “settlement communications” referred to by the government concern these particular negotiations, or indeed whether it solely covers one set of talks.
Last week saw John Campos, the former part-owner of SunFirst bank in Utah who was accused of helping PokerStars and Full Tilt process online gambling payments, sentenced to three months in prison and three years’ probation after he pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanour charge. He is the first of those indicted on Black Friday to receive a sentence of any kind.