Fri, 07/22/2011 – 22:44 – PokerPages Staff

32 year-old Marcus Burriss has been jailed for 20 years for shooting and killing a man who operated an illegal poker game operation, it was revealed on Tuesday. Burriss pleaded guilty to charges of weapon possession, armed robbery and voluntary manslaughter following the incident which occurred at Dobbins Bridge Road in the Anderson County Area in 2009.

Andy Potter, defense attorney, said that Burris acted in self-defense after Hall had attempted to reach for a firearm while handing over money to the defendant. However, prosecutors revealed that Burriss had pre-planned the attack after demanding money from Hall following a brief session of video poker. This notion was rejected by Potter who suggested that Hall denied Burriss a payment he was owed. “Ultimately, Hall was operating an illegal game house and Burriss went to him wanting to be paid. Hall then leads police on a wild goose chase.”

That goose chase related to Hall’s explanation of the shooting. Hall told police that he had obtained his injuries after a mugging while looking at a car. Hall eventually died from his injuries in hospital two months later. The 20 year sentence handed to Burriss was criticized by Hall’s ex-wife, Susan Templeton, who wanted the defendant to stay behind bars for at least 30.

“I really didn’t want to hurt that man. I do want to apologize to his daughter, to everybody involved. I do want to apologize and hope you can forgive me” Burriss said in court on Tuesday.

Thu, 07/21/2011 – 22:14 – PokerPages Staff

A poker dealer who stole $500 in chips from a casino in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has been fined $75,000, it was revealed on Wednesday. 26 year-old Matthew Eisenberg was caught by security at the Rivers Casino after placing poker chips into his own tip jar in order to increase his earnings. While Eisenberg was not caught in the act, suspicious authorities at the casino later rumbled the thief. It was said to have occurred on more than 100 occasions.

While Eisenberg accepted a one year probation order and restitution he was shocked to hear he would have to pay a ‘$75,000 fine for theft in a casino.’ Several similar cases in the past have not resulted in the courts enforcing this substantial penalty.

Michael Santicola, Attorney for Eisenberg, criticized the harshness of the five figure fine as it would make it difficult for the defendant to move forward with his life following the incident. “It shocks the conscience that we would have a legislature that would write a law that puts the casino above every other business, above a church, above a senior citizen’s home, above you, above me.”

However, District Attorney Stephen Zappala said that the fine was warranted as it would deter others from the behavior displayed by Eisenberg. The case will now go to an appeal. “We believe that the crime fits the statute as written and we believe that the General Assembly wrote the statute to protect the integrity of the casino process.”