MORE GUILTY PLEAS IN GIORDANO CASE

23 March 2007

Son-in-law could face jail time for involvement in online gambling ring

A Queens, New York courtroom saw the latest events unfold in the sensational James Giordano series of hearings as the week ended with a Florida couple who helped run the $1.4 billion-a-year Internet gambling business pleading guilty to felony charges before Justice Stephen Knopf.

Daniel Clarin (32) and his wife, Melissa Clarin (31) of Miami, entered their guilty pleas to become the latest in a string of defendants who admit participating in an operation that processed bets through offshore computer servers and the Web site Playwithal.com (see previous InfoPowa reports).

Justice Knopf said he was likely to give Daniel Clarin a prison term of between two and a third years and seven years when he is sentenced in April. Clarin, who pleaded guilty to enterprise corruption, will also have to forfeit $254 356. The judge said he would not give Melissa Clarin jail time, on the condition that she forfeit $72 508 in illegal earnings. She pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge.

Clarin's attorney, Jay Moskowitz, said he was hopeful his client would be allowed to enter a program that could reduce the length of his sentence."He's a first-time offender. He had a spotless record, before this misadventure," Moskowitz said.

Prosecutors said the gambling operation used a combination of old-school bookies and new Internet technology to take bets from tens of thousands of customers.

Twenty seven defendants, from New York, New Jersey, Florida and Nevada, were charged in the case last year following a two-year probe.

The man charged with leading the ring, a professional poker player named James Giordano, is Melissa Clarin's father. He has pleaded innocent and is awaiting trial.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa

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