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New York Gambling Crimes: Statutory Defenses
New York gambling crimes under New York PL 225 can be very serious. While New York City allows certain gambling such as NBA, NFL, boxing and horses, most municipalities like Manhattan, Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn and Westchester County doesn’t. There is no telling if future laws in New York will loosen up to the point where these municipalities will allow certain types of gambling. But for now, they haven’t, and certain gambling laws are in place to prevent gambling from spiraling out of control. Gambling laws in these municipalities are pretty strict. Charges like gambling promotion and possession of gambling can spell a felony prosecution. Additionally, if you are caught up in such a gambling we, the prosecutors can charge you with enterprise corruption and money laundering. Even worse, if you can be tied to other entities like overseas connections, the charges will be class B felonies punishable by a mandatory 25 year sentence. If you find yourself in the grip of gambling charges, you need to find a New York gambling crimes lawyer as soon as possible.
Before you can understand what you are facing, you have to first understand how New York gambling crimes work. Gambling crimes are statute specific. Once you have an attorney, they can walk you through the charges and let you know the specifics. A few of definitions you should understand:
Contest of chance: This is a game or gaming device, which has an outcome dependent upon chance.
Gambling: Participating in an activity of chance whereby you risk something of value to attempt to gain something of value in the end.
Player: The player is the person who actually engages directly in the gambling activity. For instance, they participate in the game of chance in the hopes of winning a prize or something else monetary. This can also be an individual who runs a game out of their home or business.
Bookmaker: This is when you illegally accept bets via gambling. You are not considered a player.
Advance From Gambling Activity: When you aid in any type of gambling such as creating an establishment for gambling, schemes, illegal activity or even solicitation. If you have proprietary control over an illegal gambling establishment, which contains paraphernalia, equipment or apparatus.
Profit From Gambling Activity: Any type of gambling equipment or devices that involves a person playing. This can also include lottery tickets and policy slips.
Lottery: The unlawful scheme whereby individuals engage in a chance game to win something of value. It is represented by people winning a designated number combination in a drawing. This also includes raffles.
While not all gambling offenses are open and shut cases, some will be difficult to deny. This is the reason why you should seek out an attorney familiar with gambling offenses as soon as you can. Gambling laws can be a bit tricky, and only a seasoned attorney can break down the charges for you. You could possibly be charged with numerous offenses. Let a criminal offense lawyer help you work through it.
One thing defendants need to understand is, there is no cookie cutter method to gambling offenses. There are different caveats to the charges. Theoretically, police can arrest you and prosecutors charge you with the same crimes despite your culpability. Like an octopus, New York gambling has many tentacles that can quickly cause your charges to be escalated. Prosecutors are very serious about gambling violations in New York. It took a long time, but law enforcement was able to make a huge dent in gambling crimes that infested the state for decades. These times were extremely devastating for New York.
Regardless of what you believe awaits, it is imperative that you hire experienced legal counsel now. You will need help in challenging search warrants, wiretaps, and anything else related to your case. The time to take action is now. Don’t wait until the last minute to contact an attorney. An experience professional will need enough time to look over your case and launch a vigorous defense. The alternative is not being prepared and ending up with multiple felony convictions and several years in prison. Find an attorney with the knowledge and experience to mount an excellent defense.