Gambling Site Operators To Be Prosecuted in US

Gambling site operators arrested and brought to court in Louisiana. This move is a first, as the gambling site operators are residents of the state of Washington and Christine Gregoire, their home state governor approved the extradition application.

They operated the online gambling site Betcha.com for only a short time from Washington. Nick Jenkins, a businessperson from Seattle is already facing charges in his home state in opposition to the Washington State Gambling Board. Mr. Jenkins requested that he not be extradited before he gets to end the process of defending his position against the Washington State Gambling Board who have already raided and shut down the online gambling site Betcha.com.

In his defense in front of the Washington State Gambling Board he said that his online gambling site Betcha.com was operating third party online betting services. Also, his online betting services did not include or guarantee back bets, supposedly making the online gambling site legal under the law. However, the defense he chose did not convince Louisiana state representatives who requested Jenkins and his business partners come and answer the charges of violating the state's laws against Internet-based gambling in Louisiana court.

Jenkins and his business partners, Josie Imlay and Peter Abrahamsen flew voluntarily to Louisiana where they face up to five years in prison and fines of up to $20,000 each if they are found guilty

In the meantime, the trial assures us of a new episode in the uninterrupted progress of the US persecution of online gambling, a crusade many view as pointless.