Blue Monday Online Gambling Defendant Must Pay $100 Fine
On June 8, 2012, software professional David Parchomchuk appeared in Maryland Court to face charges stemming from last year's Blue Monday indictments. He accepted a DOJ plea bargain which saw him plead guilty to conspiracy to conduct an illegal gambling business for which Judge Catherine Blake fined Parchomchuk $100, along with 2 years of unsupervised probation. Prior charges of money laundering were dropped by the DOJ.
According to Parchomchuk's counsel, Jeff Ifrah, "My client accepts full responsibility for his role as a programmer for an illegal gambling operation, and made the responsible choice to come forward and resolve this proactively." says Ifrah.
"While the indictment of a software professional is an unprecedented step by the DOJ, we are nonetheless happy to see this case come to a final resolution. It was apparent to both the prosecution and the judge that my client played a relatively minor role in the organization and had absolutely no financial or executive control, which is reflected in this sentence."
As a formality he was asked to disavow any claim to 3 bank accounts that are pending seizure in the action. “I would like to thank all those who provided support during this extremely difficult process,” states Parchomchuk.
“And for the thousands of customer and other employees affected by the closure of the site, I hope that restitution will be made for the balances that remain unpaid. I've provided any and all information I have in regards to the location of missing funds to the DOJ, and hope that information is used for the benefit of those affected."
