Update: 14 Months of Prison for Absolute Poker Finance Chief

Beckley sentence pronounced

After a delay, a sentence of 14 months in prison has been pronounced to the former finance man at Absolute Poker and Black Friday indictee, 32-year-old Brent Beckley, who earlier this yer pleaded guilty to conspiring to break U.S. laws against gambling on the Internet to commit bank fraud and wire fraud.

The aforementioned delay in sentencing was caused by Judge Lewis Kaplan’s concern that the relatively mild punishment that authorities suggested for Beckley, thanks to his cooperation, would not be appropriate. He therefore ordered prosecutors to further justify their recommendation, so he can pass an adequate sentence.

On the pronouncement of the 14-month prison sentence, Judge Kaplan told Beckley that he deserved a term of imprisonment, explaining that ‘the sentence has to make clear that the government of the United States means business in these types of cases.”

In response to Judge Kaplan’s words, Beckley said that he had ‘fooled myself into thinking that what I was doing was OK.’ In addition, he agreed to forfeit $300,000 and accepted a possible fine up to $30,000.

Further sentencing pronouncements include four other Black Friday defendants – payment processors Chad Elie, due for sentencing in October; Ryan Lang in the third week of September; Ira Rubin and Bradley Franzen.