United States v. Rubin

743 F.3d 31 (2014)

From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

United States v. Rubin

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
743 F.3d 31 (2014)

Facts

The United States government (the government) (plaintiff) charged Ira Rubin and others (defendants) with crimes including conspiracy to violate the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA). The UIGEA prohibited gambling businesses from knowingly accepting most forms of payment in connection with another person’s participation in unlawful internet gambling. The indictment asserted that internet-poker businesses PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker (collectively, the poker companies) (defendants) had violated the UIGEA by deceiving banks into processing payments for illegal gambling activity conducted on the poker companies’ websites. The indictment asserted that the poker companies hired Rubin and others to serve as third-party payment processors to disguise gamblers’ payments. To accomplish the deception, Rubin and the other processors allegedly created phony e-commerce websites and opened bank accounts in the e-commerce websites’ names. Rubin and the others promised the banks that the accounts would be used to process legitimate e-commerce payments, but the accounts were actually used to process gamblers’ transactions on behalf of the poker companies. Rubin entered an unconditional plea agreement with the government in which he pleaded guilty to the UIGEA conspiracy charge, as well as to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money. The sentencing range set forth for those offenses in the United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines was 18 to 24 months’ imprisonment. However, the district court sentenced Rubin to 36 months’ imprisonment. The district court indicated that the upward sentencing variance was justified because of the reprehensible character of Rubin’s offenses and because Rubin had a long history of criminal conduct and the potential for recidivism that far exceeded that of his co-conspirators. Rubin appealed, asserting that the indictment had charged him with a nonoffense under the UIGEA because the UIGEA exempted from prosecution the activities of mere financial-transaction providers. Rubin contended that he was charged only with handling gambling funds, rather than having actual knowledge of and control over bets and wagers, and thus that he was nothing more than a financial-transaction provider who could not be prosecuted. Rubin also argued for the first time on appeal that the court had improperly imposed an upward sentencing variance. Rubin asserted that he played only a minor role in the conspiracy yet had a much longer sentence than his co-conspirators.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Cabranes, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 815,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership