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Wednesday, Mar. 24, 2004
Man convicted of Internet betting free from prison in Nevada
ASSOCIATED PRESS
1:49 p.m. March 23, 2004
LAS VEGAS - A man convicted in what was believed to be the first Internet
sports betting trial has been released from federal prison after serving an
18-month sentence.
Jay Cohen, founder of World Sports Exchange in Antigua, left the
minimum-security Nellis Federal Prison Camp north of Las Vegas on Monday.
"I still maintain I ran a legal business in another country," Cohen told
the Las Vegas Sun. "I regret that I did not get a fair trial or a fair
appeals process."
After being released, Cohen left for Oakland, Calif., to spend 30 days in
a halfway house. Cohen also will spend two years on probation.
Cohen was charged in March 1998 with violating the U.S. Wire Act and was
convicted in New York federal court in February 2000.
A year later, a federal appeals court upheld Cohen's conviction. Lawyers
for Cohen had argued he did not break the law because his business was
based in Antigua, where betting is legal. They also argued that New York,
where many of the customers lived, allows certain types of wagering, such
as off-track betting.
Cohen's partners, Steve Schillinger and Haden Ware, have remained in the
Caribbean, continuing to run the business. Authorities cannot arrest them
unless they return to the United States.
Cohen said he believes he will be vindicated when the World Trade
Organization in late May decides a case brought by Antigua against the
United States over the offshore betting issue.
If the organization rules in favor of Antigua, Cohen believes "it will
open cross-border gambling and the United States will no longer be able to
harass offshore operators."
Gaming lobbyist Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., president of the American Gaming
Association in Washington, D.C., said the ruling won't have that much power.
"There could be some sanctions on U.S. products (traded) with Caribbean
nations and it might put some pressure on Congress, but I doubt that will
happen," Fahrenkopf said.
Fahrenkopf said the U.S. Justice Department has long operated on the
premise that wire laws from the early 1960s make it a crime for offshore
casinos to take sports wagers from the United States.
He noted the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a Louisiana
ruling that Internet sports wagering is permitted on casino-type games but
not on sporting events, which bolsters the government's position.
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R. A. Hettinga