Two men were sentenced to federal prison Monday for hacking into the email accounts of professional poker players and threatening to publicize naked photographs and other personal information to extort them.
Prosecutors said Tyler Schrier, 23, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy, extortion and unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Schrier also admitted to extorting more than $26,000 in a separate plot involving online poker players.
Keith James Hudson, 39, pleaded guilty to hacking into a player’s account to steal naked pictures and plotting with Schrier on how to extort players, according to prosecutors. He received a two-year prison sentence.
22-year-old Ryder Finney, a third defendant in the case, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and will be sentenced later this year in Philadelphia.
One of the players targeted in the extortion scheme was former poker pro Joe Sebok, the stepson of poker legend Barry Greenstein. Prosecutors said that Schrier and Hudson stole naked photos and intimate emails from Sebok in 2010 and threatened to post the revealing items online if he and other victims did not pay them hundreds of thousands of dollars.
None of the victims made payments to the extortionists, according to prosecutors. Schrier later sent a nude photo of Sebok to approximately 100 people. Sebok called the experience a “nightmare” and has virtually disappeared from the poker world since 2011. He has most recently been working at a winery in Santa Rosa, Calif.
During the sentencing hearing of Schrier and Hudson, Sebok addressed the court to say that he and other victims had seen their lives “altered and shattered in irreparable ways.”
“In short, I was no longer able to maintain my then-current level of participation in the poker industry, representing the brands that I had been previously, as well as greatly destroying my ability to do so with new companies moving forward,” Sebok said, according to U.S. Attorney’s spokesman Thom Mrozek.
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The European Poker Tour (EPT) is gearing up for its biggest Grand Final series ever. On Monday, the EPT announced the addition of the “1,100 Monaco Cup as part of the 50-event festival at the Season 9 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final, which runs from May 6 through 15. The new Monaco Cup event will take place from May 11 through 15 and features a “500,000 prize pool.
“This is the first time that we have included an event of this nature in the schedule for the EPT Grand Final,” said Neil Johnson, head of live poker operations for PokerStars. “This event will feature three Day 1s and will give players the opportunity to re-enter on Day 1b and Day 1c. With a great structure and three different chances at the coveted first prize, everyone will get their shot at a piece of the first-ever “500,000 Monaco Cup.”
News of the Monaco Cup follows EPT President Edgar Stuchly’s announcement that the EPT Grand Final will also feature the largest festival of cash games in the tour’s history. The EPT will have full control of the cash games, offering a wide variety options from noon to 6 a.m. every day.
Lee Jones, head of poker communications at PokerStars, wrote about the EPT Grand Final cash games on Monday.
The EPT Grand Final series will kick off with the “10,600 EPT Grand Final Main Event, which will be covered from beginning to end by the PokerNews Live Reporting team. We’ll also be providing live updates of the “25,000 High Roller and “100,000 Super High Roller. Keep it locked in to PokerNews for exclusive coverage of the European Poker Tour.
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