UIGEA case prosecutors go for the jugular

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act 2006 will be in the headlines this Thursday when Daniel Eremian (62) stands before a Massachusetts US District Court for sentencing.

Eremian, whose involvement in the Antigua-based Sports Offshore online sports betting operation impacted both his sister and politician’s wife Patrice Tierney, and his brother Robert Eremian who remains a fugitive from justice, was found guilty in December of racketeering and conspiracy for running a multimillion-dollar gambling website with his brother.

The prosecution is out for blood, urging Judge Patti B. Saris, who already has ordered Daniel Eremian to forfeit $8 million, to throw him in jail for four years as an example to other offshore sports betting operators who defy US law.

The UIGEA prosecution, clear cut because it specifically involves internet sports betting, is believed to be the first to actually go to trial and sentencing in the six years since the Act passed.

In their sentencing submission to the court, prosecutors noted that the online gambling world has been following the Eremian case with interest, and suggested that the sentence should reflect that criminal operators cannot hide in offshore havens and commit crimes in the United States.

“If the court’s sentence does not provide sufficient punishment, other offshore gambling businesses may take it as a signal that U.S. laws have no teeth and that it is worth the risk to conduct their business in the United States,” the submission notes.

Patrice Tierney pleaded guilty last year to helping Robert Eremian file false tax returns . She is still on supervised probation.