LOUISIANA ONLINE GAMBLING STING NETS THREE

9 November 2007

State police detain three from Jefferson Parish


Local media reports from Louisiana indicate that the State Police are still hammering online gamblers in the region, which has been the base for anti-online gambling enforcement moves in the past (see previous InfoPowa reports)

Detail is still sketchy on the latest busts, but it appears that two Jefferson Parish men arrested by Louisiana State Police after an online gambling sting operation have been additionally charged in St. Landry Parish.

Authorities say Shane Musca-Rello and Fredrick Walters will be booked into the St. Landry Parish jail.

The duo - along with Randall Rose - are aleady facing charges in Jefferson Parish stemming from the gambling sting after police allegedly placed bets on a web site called The Tiny Tuna, what appears to be a "registered guests only" sportsbetting website.

Louisiana State Police were involved in two previous high profile sting operations targeting online gambling operations. In 2006 Peter Dick, the non-executive chairman of UK gambling group Sportingbet was arrested at New York airport on a sealed Louisiana warrant and detained pending extradition, which failed. Sportingbet subsequently paid a $400 000 settlement to the state. In more recent times Nick Jenkins and his colleagues - the "Seattle Three" - were extradited to Louisiana following a sting on their Betcha.com site that netted them a mere 0.70 cents. The results of that prosecution are still awaited.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa