The New York Times is reporting that Helly Nahmad will enter a guilty plea to a single gambling charge in lieu of the numerous gambling, anti-money laundering and racketeering charges thrown at him. The Times says he will pay $6m+ in fines but there’s no word (update: see Southern District’s press release below) on whether he will face jail time:
if, as expected, he pleads guilty to a single gambling charge at an appearance scheduled for Tuesday afternoon in United States District Court in Manhattan, the recommended sentence under the guidelines would be still much shorter. Mr. Nahmad would pay $6.6 million in restitution under the expected plea agreement, people briefed on the matter said. He would be the 14th of the 34 defendants charged in the case to plead guilty. The defendants who already pleaded guilty agreed to pay a total of $9 million in restitution, one of the people said.
Benjamin Brafman, who with Paul L. Shechtman represents Mr. Nahmad, confirmed his client’s scheduled court appearance but declined to comment on what might occur before the judge, Jesse M. Furman.
Officials in the office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, and at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which investigated the case, also declined to comment on Tuesday morning.
From the Southern District’s press release:
HILLEL NAHMAD, a/k/a “Helly,” pled guilty today in Manhattan federal court in connection with his leadership role in the operation of a high-stakes illegal sports gambling business. NAHMAD was 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 gambling offenses. He pled guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Jesse M. Furman.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Helly Nahmad headed an illegal sports gambling business with ties to a Russian-American organized crime ring. Nahmad bet that he would never get caught and he lost. His guilty plea today has dealt a substantial blow to this international enterprise.” […]
NAHMAD, 35, of New York, New York, faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and three years of supervised release. As part of his plea agreement, NAHMAD agreed to forfeit $6,427,000.00 and all right, title and interest of the defendant in the painting Carnaval à Nice, 1937 by Raoul Dufy to the United States. NAHMAD is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Furman on March 19, 2014 at 3:00 p.m.
Nahmad, Art Dealer, Expected to Plead Guilty in Gambling Case (NYTimes)