Former FTP chief Bitar to plead guilty
Indicted ex-CEO requires heart transplant - legal team proposes plea deal which would see him avoid jail time.
Former Full Tilt Poker chief executive Ray Bitar is set to enter a guilty plea with regard to criminal charges brought against him following Black Friday.
However Bitar’s legal team has requested the former exec avoid jail time due to a serious heart condition, diagnosed last year, which will see him require a transplant.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), he could enter the plea as soon as next Friday, while Diamond Flush Poker reports that he would be ineligible to be considered for a heart transplant if incarcerated.
The proposed agreement would see Bitar plead guilty to two felony charges and agree to forfeit money and property, according to Diamond Flush Poker.
“We’ve been able to work out something with the government that takes into account the unique circumstances. We appreciate the government’s courtesy in this regard,” Bitar’s lawyer Jack Baughman explained to the WSJ.
Last year saw Bitar return to the United States for the first time since his indictment in April 2011, surrendering to US authorities and entering a guilty plea before being released on bail. Upon his return, a superseding indictment was unsealed against both Bitar and former FTP head of payments Nelson Burtnick. Burtnick subsequently pled guilty in September.
Of the 11 individuals indicted on Black Friday, Bitar will become the eighth to enter a guilty plea. All five indicted payment processors have been sentenced to jail time, as has former Absolute Poker head of payments Brent Beckley. Judge Leonard B Sand, previously in charge of ongoing civil proceedings against Bitar and his fellow Full Tilt board members (all of whom have since arrived at settlements), requested last year that these proceedings be put on hold until a resolution is reached with regard to the criminal case.