Edwin Ting, one of 34 defendants in a large New York City-based sportsbetting and poker ring with ties to both coasts, online gambling sites, and to the Russian mob, was sentenced yesterday in US federal court to five months in prison for his role in running high-stakes poker games on behalf of the ring.

The state of New York has seen some infamous people come through, but perhaps none were as big in the poker game as Edwin Ting. The poker pro was saddled with the task of bringing together some of the largest poker gamblers in the world.

Proceeds from the games, which were raked in violation of New York state law, were allegedly among the funds that were funneled in part to the overseas operations of Alimzhan “Taiwanchik” Tokhtakhounov, an organized crime boss who is alleged to given his blessing and protection to the operations. Ting was alleged to be the operator of the game, often held at the swanky Trump Towers apartment of WPT event winner and case co-defendant Vadim Trincher.

• Edwin Ting, one of 34 defendants in a large New York City-based sportsbetting and poker ring with ties to both coasts, online gambling sites, and to the Russian mob, was sentenced yesterday in US federal court to five months in prison for his role in running high-stakes poker games on behalf of the ring.
• See Edwin Ting's world poker tournament rank and complete tournament results and statistics in all poker games. Tournaments: 4853 World Poker Rank offers the most.

According to a release issued yesterday by the Southern District of New York prosecutor’s office of Preet Bharara, Ting “ran what was likely the largest and highest-stakes illegal poker game in New York City,” from 2010 to 2013. Ting was also responsible for employing at least five other co-defendants in the case as dealers for the long-running games.

Ting himself, according to the release, is alleged to have pulled in millions of rake through the games’ operations. In addition to his five-month term, he was also fined $2,000,000 and will serve two years of supervised probation following the completion of his term, the first five months of which will also include electronic location monitoring.

Ting, 42, was originally scheduled to be sentenced two weeks ago, but the sentencing hearing was delayed two weeks due to scheduling conflicts with the USAO prosecuting attorney for his case. Ting is the fifth defendant in the case to receive formal sentencing in the case after reaching a plea deal last fall, following sentences for Bryan Zuriff, William Barbalat, Kirill Rapoport and Justin “BoostedJ” Smith.

Of the five, Ting’s five-month sentence is the second-stiffest term handed out to date, though longer terms are likely in some of the cases that will see sentencing hearings in the next two months. The USAO Southern District of New York office has also collected over $68 million in fines from the 25 of the case’s 33 defendants who have agreed to plea deals to date. Seven of the remaining eight defendants are also negotiating deals or planning for trial, with only Tokhtakhounov, the international crime boss who is wanted by the United States on other charges as well, still at large.

As for Ting, who has three WPT cashes over $10,000 in his own poker career, he was originally charged with three counts in the case: (1) A money-laundering conspiracy charge in connection with one of three connected rings within the operation, called the “Nehmad-Trincher Ring” (referring to Vadim Trincher’s son Illya; (2) a count of operating an unlawful poker business (the count to which Ting actually pled guilty in the plea deal); and (3) a Travel Act violation, referring to the crossing of state lines in conjunction with the financial operations of the gambling ring’s activities.

Ting is expected to report to a federal prison in Fort Dix, NJ on or before March 21, 2014, to begin serving his sentence.

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Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that EDWIN TING and JUSTIN SMITH pled guilty today in Manhattan federal court for their respective roles in high-stakes illegal gambling businesses connected to organized crime enterprises. TING pled guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Jesse M. Furman to conducting an illegal gambling business, an illegal poker game. SMITH pled guilty before Judge Furman to accepting a financial instrument in connection with unlawful Internet gambling, an illegal sportsbook.

TING and SMITH were charged in April 2013 in a 34-defendant indictment charging members and associates of two Russian-American organized crime enterprises with various crimes including racketeering, money laundering, extortion, and various gambling offenses.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Edwin Ting and Justin Smith ran high-stakes poker and sportsbook operations, respectively, that handled many millions of dollars in illegal gambling. They were part of an underground enterprise trying to be invisible to law enforcement. Their guilty pleas are an important step toward the resolution of this case.”

According to the Indictment, other documents filed in this case, and statements made at various conferences in this case:

TING ran a high-stakes illegal poker game in New York City from 2010 through 2013. At these games, the pots frequently reached tens of thousands of dollars or more. The operators of these games, including TING, collected percentages of the pots known as “rakes.” These poker games employed at least five or more people to assist with the operation of the games, payments of debts, and collection of debts.

SMITH assisted Hillel Nahmad, Illya Trincher, and others in operating their own high-stakes sportsbook in New York that catered to millionaires and billionaires. Those clients typically placed bets online through various accounts maintained on gambling websites that were operating illegally in the United States. Tens of millions of dollars in bets were placed through those online accounts each year.

TING and SMITH each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and three years of supervised release. As part of his plea agreement, TING agreed to forfeit $2,000,000 to the United States. As part of his plea agreement, SMITH agreed to forfeit $500,000 to the United States. TING and SMITH are both scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Furman on January 7, 2014 at 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., respectively.

TING and SMITH are the fourth and fifth defendants to plead guilty in the case. The following defendants have previously pled guilty and will also be sentenced by Judge Furman:

• Bryan Zuriff pled guilty on July 26, 2013 and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 25, 2013 at 3:00 p.m.;
• William Barbalat pled guilty on August 14, 2013 and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 16, 2013 at 3:30 p.m.; and
• Kirill Rapoport pled guilty on August 16, 2013 and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 18, 2013 at 3:00 p.m.

The charges against the remaining 29 defendants are merely accusations, and these defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York City Police Department, and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harris M. Fischman, Joshua A. Naftalis, Peter Skinner, and Kristy J. Greenberg of the Organized Crime Unit are in charge of the prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander Wilson and Christine Magdo of the Office’s Asset Forfeiture Unit are responsible for the forfeiture aspects of the case.

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