Full Tilt Poker Payment Processor Pleads Guilty

Nelson Burtnick, who worked as the payment processor for Full Tilt Poker, has pleaded guilty in a federal court room in New York, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday. He could face up to 15 years in prison.

However, the Associated Press reported that the judge will likely take it easy on him.

Burtnick also did work for PokerStars, another site booted from the U.S. in April 2011.

Along with Burtnick, a handful of the other individuals charged in the Black Friday indictment have admitted to at least some wrongdoing. They include Bradley Franzen, Ryan Lang, Ira Rubin, Brent Beckley, Chad Elie and John Campos.

Ray Bitar, former CEO of Full Tilt, has been arrested and pleaded not guilty. He could face life in prison if convicted of running what prosecutors say amounted to a Ponzi scheme.

Isai Scheinberg and Paul Tate of PokerStars and Absolute Poker’s Scott Tom remain as the only individuals who have not been taken into custody by the government. Scheinberg could have helped his cause after his company settled with the feds in July for $731 million.

While the aforementioned were hit with criminal charges, Full Tilt’s Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Rafe Furst have been accused of helping defraud the company’s former customers. Those three are only facing civil action, but the feds want to claim millions.

Follow Brian Pempus on Twitter — @brianpempus

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