Online Casino Advertisers Bullied Into Plea Arrangements

So, by simply blackmailing a father using threats against his children, the noble Department of Justice was able to convict three advertising men as felons.

Many American citizens accept unthinkingly that their country, and by extension their government, operates as a system dedicated to justice, fairness, and compassion. Yet prosecuting attorneys throughout the country, and especially in the Department of Justice, routinely use the dirtiest, most despicable methods at their means to squeeze "cooperation" from witnesses and suspects who are supposedly innocent until proven guilty.

The BetOnSports online casino case has sunk to this level, at which right and wrong are obscured by the murk and only winning matters. Wednesday, three men pled guilty in federal court in St. Louis to charges related to online gambling; how those pleas were obtained should embarass and shame the prosecutors and investigators who worked the case.

BetOnSports founder Gary Kaplan and CEO David Carruthers were both indicted in 2006 on racketeering charges based on their operating an online casino that accepted American customers. They are awaiting trial, and hoping there may be salvation in the form of Pete Sessions' House Resolution 6663, which proposes, among other things, amnesty for online gaming executives prior to 2006.

In the meantime, the feds also prosecuted the family that ran Mobile Promotions, a company that was heavily involved in advewrtising BetOnSports. William Hernan Lenis, head of Mobile, pled guilty to interstate transportation of gambling paraphernalia. He admitted his company used mobile homes with the BetOnSports logo to visit events in order to recruit gamblers and get signatures against gambling laws. A second company owned by Lenis, Direct Mail Expertise, sent out mailings numbering over 2 million for the online casino between 2000 and 2006.

Lenis was also forced to admit his son Will, daughter Monica, and nephew Manny worked with him on the projects.

Will pled guilty to transmission of wagering information, and faces a year in prison. Manny pled to failing to pay a wagering tax, and faces six months in prison.

In exchange for the guilty pleas and testimony at the upcoming BetOnSports trials, the senior Lenis was guaranteed no further charges would be brought against his son or his nephew, and his daughter would not be charged.

Kaplan's attorney, Chris Flood, stated, "This has no effect on Mr. ­Kaplan's defense and we understand why … the Lenis family would feel compelled to enter their pleas."

So, by simply blackmailing a father using threats against his children, the noble Department of Justice was able to convict three advertising men as felons. The central case itself may disappear before the trial, as popular will continues to force Congress to reconsider the government's ill-advised stance; yet one man will go to jail to save his daughter, rather than fight for what is right and put her at risk.

Not since Richard Jewell has the government slipped so low. Jewell was the hero who discovered the pipe-bomb at the Atlanta Olympics, only to have federal investigators leak his name to the media as a suspect. Jewell was exonerated as domestic terrorist Eric Rudolph was found to be the bomber; yet Jewell's life and reputation were ruined.

Perhaps the federal inquisitors, with the scent of fresh blood driving them on, would like to prosecute every athlete and model that displayed the Golden Palace name at sporting events. This is why heads of drug cartels and street murderers remain free; there is only enough prison room for the moral police to imprison average guys like Bill Lenis, who so obviously dont threaten the community.