Poker News 
/ Short-Stacked Shamus / 27 March 2012 / Leave a Comment 
By pleading guilty, Elie avoids standing trial in April. His co-defendant, John Campos, has yet to enter a similar plea agreement.
Elie follows the path taken by other payment processors targeted by the Black Friday indictment who have pleaded guilty to various charges and/or entered plea agreements, including Ira Rubin, Bradley Franzen, and Ryan Lang, as well as that of Absolute Poker co-founder Brent Buckley.
Just days after the news that former payment processor turned "supergrass" Daniel Tzvetkoff was to appear as a witness in the "Black Friday" trial of Chad Elie and John Campos, Elie avoided trial by entering a guilty plea to one of the conspiracy counts against him in a Manhattan courtroom on Monday. The plea agreement means Elie will face six months to a year in prison and the forfeiture of $500,000. His sentencing will come in early October.
The 32-year-old payment processor was one of 11 individuals named in the original Black Friday indictment unsealed on April 15, 2011. Originally Elie had been charged with nine different counts including violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, conspiracy to violate the UIGEA, conspiracy to engage in money laundering, operating an illegal gambling business, and conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud.
Ultimately Elie pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, with the terms of his plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office ensuring the latter will ask for a sentence of no more than one year. Meanwhile, Elie is free on a $250,000 bond as he awaits his October 3rd sentencing.
As reported by several outlets, Elie stated in court on Monday "I knew that my conduct was wrong" as he entered his guilty plea, explaining that he opened bank accounts in order to make transactions with online poker sites while being unclear with the banks regarding the actual purposes for the accounts.
Elie follows the path taken by other payment processors targeted by the Black Friday indictment who have pleaded guilty to various charges and/or entered plea agreements, including Ira Rubin, Bradley Franzen, and Ryan Lang, as well as that of Absolute Poker co-founder Brent Buckley.
No word as yet whether Elie's co-defendant, John Campos, formerly part-owner and Vice Chairman of the Board at the now-closed SunFirst Bank in St. George, Utah that handled allegedly unlawful online gambling transactions, will enter a similar agreement and avoid trial. As was the case with Elie, Campos has been charged with multiple counts, and if found guilty of them all could face up to 35 years in prison.
The trial is scheduled to begin April 9th, with Daniel Tzvetkoff set to appear as a key prosecution witness in the case. It was reported last week that Tzvetkoff -- who had dealings with all three of the targeted online poker sites (PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker/UltimateBet) had turned over more than 90,000 documents to prosecutors.
Most believe Tzvetkoff's cooperation with prosecutors -- turning "supergrass" or informant -- is part of his own effort to negotiate a lessening of punishment after being charged himself with violating the UIGEA, bank fraud, and money laundering charges.
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