Samuel McMaster Jr. has been found guilty of 26 felony counts of fraud, related to falsely selling securities. Samuel has been ordered by court to pay the victims back as a part of his conviction.
However, his only legal way of earning cash is playing poker, as Mr. McMaster is a professional gambler.
The court gave Samuel permission to leave his home state (New Mexico) in order to travel to poker tournaments. He will need to make a compensation payment of $7,500 every month for the next half year, and if he misses any two of these, he will be facing a prison sentence up to 12 years.
Phylis H. Bowman, prosecutor of the case, added the following about the strange verdict: "There’s nothing to indicate that he’s a violent threat to society. So based upon those factors, that’s what determines conditions of release. It has nothing to do with profession."
If McMaster meets the monthly requirements of collecting $7,500, he might receive a more benevolent sentence. 🙂