The man who had the audacity to not only produce counterfeit poker chips but also use them to get ahead in a tournament has reached a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 43-year old Christian Lusardi reached a plea deal in U.S. District Court that will have him serve five years in prison for his role not in the counterfeit chips, but in the production and sale of counterfeit DVD’s.
The Lusardi story dates back to January 2014, during the first event of the Borgata Winter Poker Open. A $500 buy-in event with a $2 million guarantee, the tournament was immensely popular, attracting a field of 4,811 players. The event began on January 14th, but on January 16th, it was discovered that there were counterfeit Borgata chips on some tables. After an investigation, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement ordered the tournament cancelled with just 27 players remaining.
But who introduced the counterfeit chips into the tournament? The way that answer was determined was actually quite entertaining. While the tournament was in full swing at the Borgata, the nearby Harrah’s Resort was having plumbing issues. The plumbing staff found a clog in a sewer pipe, but to their surprise it wasn’t just a bunch of towels or something else run-of-the-mill. Instead, what was causing the clog was 2.7 million worth of bogus Borgata tournament chips that someone had flushed down the toilet.
But what was the origin of those chips? As it turned out, it was really easy for the Harrah’s staff to determine. Hotel guests had been complaining about plumbing problems, so the staff just had to trace the complaints back to find the source, Lusardi’s room. Harrah’s called the Borgata, which found out that there were 800,000 worth of fake chips in the tourney. Lusardi, not coincidentally, was the chip leader when the event was cancelled. Knowing the jig was up, Lusardi fled to a Super 8 motel in Atlantic City, where he was soon apprehended.
But as was noted at the beginning of this article, Lusardi is not serving time for the counterfeit chips. As it turned out, the Department of Homeland Security had been keeping tabs on Lusardi for a year and a half, building a case against him for counterfeiting DVD’s. As the Wilmington, North Carolina U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote:
Investigation revealed that several boxes of counterfeit DVDs mailed from China were intercepted by the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The boxes of counterfeit DVDs were controlled delivered to the identified address. Shortly after the controlled delivery was complete, agents made contact with LUSARDI which resulted in the subsequent search of LUSARDI’s residence. The search resulted in the discovery of over 35,500 counterfeit DVDs. Investigation revealed that between June 2010 and July 2012, LUSARDI was in the business of receiving, manufacturing, and selling counterfeit DVDs in both the United States and Canada. It was determined that LUSARDI received over $1.3 million in his PayPal account during this time period.
The charges attached to the counterfeit chips were dropped, as prosecutors did not think they would be able to tack on any more penalties on top of what Lusardi would be hit with for the DVDs. Lusardi pled guilty to copyright infringement and trafficking in counterfeit labels. He is being ordered to pay over $1.1 million in restitution.
