Judge Accepts Guilty Plea for Black Friday Banker

The guilty plea entered by former banker John Campos was accepted by US District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan this week in New York City. Campos was indicted on charges of illegally processing payments for online casino games companies when he was a banker at SunFirst Bank in Utah. Campos was arrested in April 2011 after an indictment was filed against him, Chad Elie and other poker company owners in the Black Friday Case.

Campos pled to a single misdemeanor charge of allowing a bank insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to process illegal gambling transactions. The plea was accepted after a long process during which the prosecution stated that among other things, Campos’ role in the case was relatively minor and that sentencing for the misdemeanor charge would be similar to the felony he faced initially.  

Campos was accused of making an arrangement with Elie and other top rated online casino owners to use SunFirst Bank to illegally process funds from online casino games players in exchange for a ten million dollar investment in the bank and a $20,000 bonus for him. Campos stated that Elie and the others approached him in 2009. During this time, SunFirst Bank processed about $200 million in online casino games payments until ordered by the FDIC to stop.

Earlier in April, Chad Elie also pled guilty to reduced charges in the case.

As part of the agreement, Campos agreed to a lifetime ban from the banking industry. He will face a June 27th sentencing hearing at which he could receive up to six months in prison.