Ray Bitar is Sentenced to Time Served

It was reported last week that former Full Tilt Poker CEO Ray Bitar was suffering from serious health issues meaning that he would need a heart transplant. This meant that any prison time he could possibly have been sentenced to would have effectively meant that no transplant would have been possible, and that he would in effect be likely to die in prison. Bitar’s attorney’s requested a deal be made in that a plea of guilty would be entered by Bitar as long as certain conditions were met. One of those conditions was of course that he serve no time behind bars meaning that he could have the necessary treatment both before and after any operation.

Bitar himself, due to his bad health could not make the sentencing in New York and ‘attended’ via a live feed from Los Angeles. During the video feed he is reported to say, “I regret my action. I know they were wrong and illegal, I am very sorry.” He continued, “I am very sorry for the problems that Full Tilt Poker got into, it should never had happened.” He was sentenced to time that he has already served and to forfeit all of his assets which are said to include around 40 million in cash and many properties. Judge Loretta Preska residing over the case was clear in that Bitar’s health issues had pushed her decision in stating, “The driving factor in this sentence is Mr. Bitar’s precarious health condition,” Judge Preska said. “The Federal Bureau of Prisons is not able to provide the care that Mr. Bitar needs. Prison almost undoubtedly would kill him. The possibility of prison would make Mr. Bitar ineligible for a heart transplant, which would also impose a death sentence.” This marks the end of the road for Mr Bitar as far as this case is concerned.