Police have accused Florida poker professional James Kerr, 39, of working a “massive time” unlawful playing operation the place he made, and hid, “tons of of 1000’s of {dollars}.”
Tampa Bay’s Fox 13 station’s reporting included a video interview with Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, who defined the allegations in opposition to the well-known native poker participant.
Poker Professional in Sizzling Water
Kerr, who has practically $700,000 in dwell event cashes, has been underneath investigation for fairly a while, based on Fox 13. Sheriff Judd shared with reporters particulars concerning the alleged crimes.
“We realized that James Kerr was working an enormous time operation and making tons of of 1000’s of {dollars},” the sheriff said.
Kerr allegedly made roughly $800,000 from unlawful poker video games he hosted in Winter Haven, a metropolis about an hour south of Orlando. He faces cash laundering fees for, as police declare, being the ring chief behind an unlawful playing home. Police additionally stated there might be further fees filed.
The poker participant allegedly hosted unlawful poker video games from a number of places, however the primary spot was from inside a former regulation workplace. Authorities acquired a tip on Kerr and started investigating with the usage of undercover detectives infiltrating the poker video games. Kerr is accused of hiding tons of of 1000’s of {dollars} constructed from playing nights he hosted between 2021 and 2023.
“Now consider he is additionally an expert gambler,” Sheriff Judd stated. “Should you search him up on-line, you may see he is gained some huge cash legally playing, however guess what, he grew to become grasping and determined to arrange his personal unlawful recreation. That is when he bought arrested.”
Kerr does have a prolonged historical past of cashes in poker tournaments, and he is identified to compete often in money video games in Florida. In 2021, he gained the $1,7000 buy-in Seminole Laborious Rock Tampa Poker Traditional Important Occasion for $228,038, a career-best rating. He took down a $2,500 buy-in event on the identical on line casino in September 2024 for $111,294.
Investigators declare to have found that Kerr had been making a number of transactions amongst totally different financial institution accounts. He appeared in courtroom on Tuesday, and his lawyer argued the state did not have possible trigger to cost the poker professional with a criminal offense. A choose, nonetheless, imposed a $60,000 bail and ordered Kerr to put on a GPS monitor ought to he put up bail.
James Kerr Wraps Large SHR Tampa Sequence With Important Occasion Chop
