USA Regular everyday US citizens that occasionally play at online casinos are being jailed in the US. The latest chapter in the country’s Internet gambling saga had Nicholas Zicarelli jailed for not testifying about the online casino he had been a customer at.
Zicarelli’s attorney, Kenneth Hensley, is claiming that the government is trying to make an example of his client. Hensley believes that the government has no legal right to have Zicarelli jailed, and that they are bullying him to testify.
There have been others who have gone the way of Zicarelli and used their Fifth Amendment right to not testify. Assistant US Attorney Paul Becker, however, has not accepted that right, and has pushed for the online casino customers to be jailed.
The judge had granted Zicarelli immunity if he were to testify. That means that nothing he testified to could lead to charges of his own. Still, that is not the route that Zicarelli and the others jailed have taken.
“He’s a law-abiding citizen who doesn’t want to be dragged into this investigation,” said Hensley. Zicarelli now finds himself in a similar situation as the others that have been jailed. They will remain in jail until either the jury completes its term, or when the grand jury is finished with its probe.
The US has been actively going after online casino operations that are accepting US players, even while lawmakers in the country are rallying to change the current Internet gambling laws.
