Another defendant has managed to dodge prison time in connection with a Russian mob-run poker ring. William Barbalat, who operated illegal underground poker games in New York City, recently stood before Judge Jesse Furman in a Manhattan Federal courtroom. Thanks to a plea deal that he accepted, Barbalat received two years of probation and 200 hours of community service.
In addition to probation and community service, the Soviet-born West Village native will have to forfeit $150,000 in illegal proceeds. However, the big thing for him is that he’ll avoid the recommended 6-12 months that his August plea deal originally called for. Barbalat’s lawyer, Silvia Serpe, was happy with the sentence as she said, “We are pleased at today’s outcome and that the judge was able to see our client for who he really is.”
Working for a poker ring that ultimately raked over $100 million, Barbalat’s role was to organize the games. And he went all out to do so, hiring waitresses, massage girls, security guards and card dealers. But where Barbalat went wrong was in raking a percentage from the cash game pots. Just like the rest of the United States, it’s illegal to organize raked poker games in the state of New York without a license.
Other members of the Russian mob-run poker ring have recently seen their cases come to a conclusion. In the middle of December, Molly ‘The Poker Princess’ Bloom accepted a deal that’ll see her forfeit $250,000 and face up to 6 months in jail. She became famous in 2011 for organizing high stakes poker games that included A-List Hollywood stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire.
A couple of weeks ago, Kirill Rapoport accepted a deal that will see him spend 6 months in jail. Prosecutors were adamant that Rapoport receive jail time because he sent mixed martial arts fighters to collect debts from players.