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Convictions Continue in High Stakes Poker Ring

By: Derek // News Briefs

The chips continue to fall in an illegal gambling ring that stretched from coast-to-coast and, allegedly, contained ties to the Russian mob operating in the United States. The latest participant to cop a plea was Edwin Ting, of New York City, who was recently sentenced to five months in prison and a forfeiture of $2 million in winnings. A federal attorney familiar with the case says Ting ran poker games that reached into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Ting is the 25th defendant to plead guilty in the case. In addition to New York City, the poker games ran in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Miami, and numbered professional athletes, business executives, and Hollywood power brokers among the players. The actual playing of poker for money is not the problem, but it is illegal to profit by promoting it. Total forfeitures from defendants has climbed to more than $68 million.

Although not the biggest name associated with the poker bust, Edwin Ting is well known on the professional gambling circuit, having finished 99th in the 2008 World Poker Tour. The recent arrests and convictions are a result of an investigation launched by the FBI’s Eurasian Organized Crime Squad. (Derek Dowell – VNN) (Image: Flickr | magnoid)