Borgata’ChipGate’ villain, Christian Lusardi, has been released from prison after serving eight months of two sentences carrying a maximum jail term of five years.
Lock up your chips.
Christian Lusardi, the infamous villain of the Borgata ‘ChipGate’ scandal, has been released from prison after serving just eight months of two sentences worth three and five years respectively.
The news broke on pokerfraudalert.com, with forum poster Forum Wars, posting an image of Lusardi’s ‘Offender Details,’ showing the following information:
Admission Date: Dec 1, 2015
Current Max Release Date: Jan 22, 2019
Date Out of Custody: Jul 25, 2016
He was also ordered to pay $1,137,864.01 restitution.
Lusardi was the man responsible for flooding Event 1: $2 Million Guaranteed Big Stack NLHE Re-Entry Event at the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open with counterfeit chips.
The fuzz identified him as the responsible party after a plumber was called to deal with a pipe blockage in a nearby Harrah’s Casino and found that over 500 fake poker chips had been flushed down a toilet in a hotel room belonging to one Christian Lusardi.
Lusardi busted from the tournament on Day 2, cashing for $6,814.
It seems fake poker chips weren’t Lusardi’s only rodeo. After his arrest, it came to light that the police were after him for a few other dodgy dealings. His court date was March 30, 2015, where he pleaded guilty to counts of copyright infringement and trafficking counterfeit goods.
The man with the gavel sentenced Lusardi to a maximum of three years in prison for ‘Criminal Mischief’ and a maximum five years for ‘Counterfeit’ charges relating to the buying and selling of over 35,000 dodgy DVDs from China.
Do people still watch DVDs?
Well, it appears they did between the years 2010-2012 where Lusardi is said to have processed $1.3m through his Paypal account.
Back to that tournament he ruined and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) and Borgata officials decided to return $1,721,805 to the players involved in the marred event. The final 27 players received $19,323 each, which was an almighty kick in the balls with over $300,000 up top.
Six of the players were unhappy enough with the ruling to file a lawsuit against the casino. The judge ruled that the DGE’s decision was a fair one. The players didn’t appeal.
