Blue Bell, PA. -- A Pennsylvania Superior Court has stayed the extradition of Interactive Gaming and Communications Corp. president and CEO Michael F. Simone, denying a request by a Missouri court.
The action stems from charges made by Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon. Nixon recently obtained a grand jury indictment against IGC and Simone for internet gambling in Missouri. According to information provided by IGC Corp., "The indictment runs counter to the recent Supreme Court Decency Act ruling with regards to regulating the internet and banning what politicians may deem as questionable content."
Although the Pennsylvania court has overruled the lower court's decision, Simone is prohibited from leaving the state pending appeal. This severely hampers his ability to run IGC's considerable foreign interests, and has forced him to file an emergency request with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to hear the case.
Simone is charging Missouri's Attorney General with prosecutorial misconduct and political grandstanding (wonder what the citation is on that law?) saying, "Nixon's interests are not to protect the citizens of Missouri from a fraud or a crime, but rather to protect big gaming interests in his state and the potential political contributions they can make to his campaign. Games of chance on the internet aren't enticing Missouri's poorer residents to gamble away their last dollar. That's the job of the State-regulated gambling institutions and the State-run lottery."
Surely, we'll be hearing more on this one....