Arizona's Gambling Battle: 2

Judge Steinle of the Arizona courtrooms “remanded” charges to be brought up on two particular defendants because of the fact that they “failed to mention” the fact that their online casino of choice is protected by an international treaty. The judge also threw out nine other defendants charges which meant a lucky break for them but not so much for the unlucky twenty remaining defendants whose felony charges remain in tact. The felony charges are being reported as on going cases due to the lack of cooperation from some of the men in question. One of those defendants is one of the gentlemen that were remanded.

As one of the local newspapers reported, defendant Eugene Valentini was unable and/or unwilling to answer the judge’s questions in regards to the online casino in Costa Rica in which they are tied to. The online casinos in question are located in the Central American country of Costa Rica and the website may just be protected by an international treaty. The defendants lawyer maintains that what his client is being accused of are not illegal and should be looked at fairly by a grand jury. Valentini’s lawyer is also representing another person accused of similar charges, James Bennitt. The United States government does have to agree to follow the letter of the international treaty.

The hope of the Arizona government is that the crimes related to online casinos do not go unpunished. If that means having to follow certain procedures that may make the process take slightly longer, that is completely fine. One of the defendants is making accusations at how the prosecution is treating this online casino case. James Bennitt is claiming that the prosecution was not telling the truth in front of the grand jury. The statements made in front of the grand jury, which Bennitt claims are blatant lies, are statements that do more than just insinuate that he is the leader of the online casino ring. Bennits case was remanded in September of 2008.