<http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/computing/20040323-1349-nv-internetbets.html> SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Technology 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. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'