Perplexing Legal Ruling In New Jersey
Published: Friday, October 07, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
PERPLEXING LEGAL RULING IN NEW JERSEY
When is a non-law a law?
Even legal folk were scratching their heads a little this week as the already complex US legal position on Internet gambling took another puzzling twist thanks to a Superior Court judge who has upheld a recent decision to prosecute an alleged gambling site operator.
In essence, the judge ruled that operating an online gambling site was illegal...even though there is no law that specifically bans betting over the Internet in New Jersey.
Before the judge was a defence lawyer for Nicholas Drakos (48) who unsuccessfully tried to get Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto in Morristown to dismiss the indictment against his client, who is charged with promoting gambling, conspiracy to promote gambling and money laundering between January and April 2004.
Attorney Robert Dunn argued that the state Legislature has never passed a law that makes Internet gambling a crime. Drakos hosted the Web site known as International Net Casino.com, and instructed bettors on how to set up accounts to place wagers on professional and collegiate sports events without understanding it as a crime, the lawyer maintained.
Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Melanie Smith countered by suggesting that under state law, a person is guilty of promoting gambling when he or she knowingly engages in conduct that "...materially aids any form of gambling activity." And amendments to New Jersey's constitution have legalised certain types of gambling in New Jersey and prohibited the Legislature from authorising other forms of gambling "...unless the specific kind, restrictions and control ... are approved by public referendum," she contended.
Then came the judge's take on the debate: simply because the Legislature has not specified that Internet gambling is a crime does not mean it is lawful, he said.
There apparently is no legal precedent in New Jersey that explicitly prohibits Internet gambling.
However, Judge Ahto read passages from New Jersey's constitution, citing approved forms of gambling that include casinos, state-run lotteries and certain types of raffles or Bingo games that benefit civic groups, senior citizens, veterans, religious, educational, fraternal and other specified organizations.
He pointed out that there was no mention of Internet gambling.
The issue is still at an early stage, and although Judge Ahto would not allow a summary dismissal of the charges he ruled that a proper trial where relevant evidence is produced against Drakos was necessary.
The case is the result of a "sting" operation in which an undercover officer asked Drakos to set up an online betting account and they met in person in January 2004. During their meeting, the undercover official discussed establishing an online account as well as Drakos'"affiliate program," which was a commission incentive for bettors to recruit other bettors, the papers said. The officer gave Drakos $100 to fund his new gambling account, and it was set up in his presence.
The undercover officer later recruited other undercover officers to log on to the Web site and set up additional accounts under the "affiliate program."On two occasions, the undercover officers used the Web site and their new accounts to place bets that totaled in the $1,000 range, court papers said.
Drakos was arrested on April 1, 2004, at Newark Liberty International Airport, when he allegedly was carrying $1,632 in cash along with gambling records.
