Poker company co-founder pleads guilty in NYC

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The co-founder of an Internet poker company pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy charges, admitting that he knew he was breaking the law when he arranged for U.S. banks to process gambling proceeds.

Brent Buckley, 31, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, saying he knew it was illegal to accept credit cards so that customers could gamble on the Internet.

"I knew that it was illegal to deceive the banks," Buckley told Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis in a plea deal that calls for him to receive a sentence between a year and a year and a half in prison. Sentencing was set for April 19.

The charges stem from a prosecution that shut down U.S. operations of the three largest Internet companies last spring.

Buckley was a co-founder of Absolute Poker. Prosecutors said Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars tricked U.S. banks into processing billions of dollars of gambling transactions by disguising the money as payments to hundreds of non-existent online merchants purporting to sell merchandise such as jewelry and golf balls.

Buckley, who stood with his hands clasped behind his back, was described in court as the director of payments for Absolute Poker.

The U.S. in October 2006 enacted the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which makes it a crime for gambling businesses to knowingly accept most forms of payment in connection with the participation of another person in unlawful Internet gambling.

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USCIS Adjusting Premium Processing Fee

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today it is adjusting the premium processing fee for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers beginning on Oct. 1, 2018 to more effectively adjudicate petitions and maintain effective service to petitioners.

The premium processing fee will increase to $1,410, a 14.92 percent increase (after rounding) from the current fee of $1,225. This increase, which is done in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, represents the percentage change in inflation since the fee was last increased in 2010 based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers.

“Because premium processing fees have not been adjusted since 2010, our ability to improve the adjudications and service processes for all petitioners has been hindered as we’ve experienced significantly higher demand for immigration benefits. Ultimately, adjusting the premium processing fee will allow us to continue making necessary investments in staff and technology to administer various immigration benefit requests more effectively and efficiently,” said Chief Financial Officer Joseph Moore. “USCIS will continue adjudicating all petitions on a case-by-case basis to determine if they meet all standards required under applicable law, policies, and regulations.”

Premium processing is an optional service that is currently authorized for certain petitioners filing Forms I-129 or I-140. The system allows petitioners to request 15-day processing of certain employment-based immigration benefit requests if they pay an extra fee. The premium processing fee is paid in addition to the base filing fee and any other applicable fees, which cannot be waived.

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