Bodog and some executives, including founder Calvin Ayre, saw their case with the US Justice Department end Friday. Ayre pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor of accessory after the fact charge related to the transmission of gambling information in violation of the federal Wire Act, according to Forbes. Ayre was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation and a $500,000 fine.
This was done by conference call. Ayre was at his attorney’s office in Vancouver. He did not return to the United States.
Ayre and his colleagues were released the Bodog.com domain name for $100,000. It was seized when the indictment against the company was unsealed in 2012.
Calvin Ayre’s website, which is an industry information site with some insider scoops from Bodog and related sites, reported today that the case against Ayre and Bodog were dismissed entirely.
Bodog had more than $60 million seized when it was indicted in 2012. The money was held in accounts throughout the payment processing cycle. Bodog reimbursed all player losses years ago. The company and its executives agreed not to pursue this seized money. It is now considered forfeited.
While the Bodog.com domain will return to the company for a future use, the brand is not as widely used as it once was. Bodog’s U.S. players now bet on sports at Bovada.lv and its poker site is not at Ignition Casino. Bodog also abandoned the European market after regulatory headaches.
Ayre is originally from Canada. He now resides in Antigua, a country that won a World Trade Organization ruling that punished the US for violating trade agreements. The US has never worked towards a settlement in the case. Ayre is a major employer in Antigua, according to his website’s coverage of the story.
