| Absolute Poker Co-Founder Has Sentencing Delayed |
The co-founder of Absolute Poker, Brent Beckley, has had his sentencing for charges of fraud and money-laundering as part of the Black Friday indictments delayed.Beckley had entered a plea of guilty to presiding Judge Lewis Kaplan but his sentencing has now been postponed from Monday 21st May, 2012 to Thursday 28th June, 2012.
Speculation has been rife about the reason for the delay in sentencing. Some sections of the industry are specifying an order by Judge Kaplan that suggested an “upward departure” may be required due to "....an aggravating circumstance in this case of a kind, or to a degree, not adequately taken into consideration by the Sentencing Commission in formulating the guidelines."
This order by Judge Kaplan also states guidelines USSG 2B1.1 which "...depends heavily on the loss amount, which is defined in terms of the ‘reasonably foreseeable pecuniary harm’, notes that the government acknowledges that it is not in a position to establish pecuniary harm in view of the nature of the offenses of conviction.”
Judge Kaplan also states that the Presentence Report also makes it clear that Beckley "....deliberately & unlawfully conspired to circumvent, & circumvented, governing laws of the United States in order to conduct or facilitate an unlawful business or businesses involving billions of dollars from which those businesses gained many millions of dollars. The failure of the guideline so heavily dependent on loss amount to fix an appropriate sentencing range in a case like this may warrant an upward departure."
This is believed to be the reason why Judge Kaplan pushed the sentencing to a later date. Judge Kaplan has also informed Beckley that if he wishes to make a representation for an “upward departure” then he must confirm so by Friday 8th June, 2012.
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