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Poker player indicted
A high-stakes poker player and regular on the Hustler Casino Live stream has been indicted for human trafficking and money laundering.
Elvis Bersai Lopez-Ambrosio, better known to viewers of the stream as Pepe, faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of the crimes, which were posted in an announcement from the United States Attorney’s Office of New Mexico.
part of the “Lopez Human Smuggling Organization”
Pepe is accused of being part of the “Lopez Human Smuggling Organization.” The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also announced financial sanctions and asset freezes on alleged members of the group.
Human trafficking
Pepe has made numerous appearances on the Hustler stream, where he gained a reputation for loose play and being unafraid to play large pots.
Given the potential source of his funds, it may go some way as to explaining why he wasn’t too worried about any of his losses.
The operation involved several other individuals named in the indictment, with the organization’s leader claimed to be Ronaldo Galindo Lopez-Escobar, aka Tio Roni, a 46-year-old Guatemalan.
There is no suggestion that anyone involved in Hustler is part of the money-laundering operation or that his poker activities were part of the scheme, which the US Attorney’s Office detailed in its statement.
Elvis would instruct co-conspirators to open U.S. bank accounts in order to receive smuggling fees”
“Elvis Bersai Lopez-Ambrosio, aka “Pepe,”… coordinated with Mexican human smugglers… to cross undocumented aliens from Guatemala through Mexico, and into the United States through Southern New Mexico,” read the statement. “Elvis would instruct co-conspirators to open U.S. bank accounts in order to receive smuggling fees from smuggled aliens on Elvis’s behalf and in a manner that would be untraceable to Elvis.”
“Elvis would then instruct co-conspirators to withdraw the funds and either: give the funds to Elvis, convert the funds into assets including real estate, or send funds to Lopez-Escobar or his nominees in Guatemala, utilizing money service business money wires, to minimize the trackability of the funds to Lopez-Escobar.”
History of controversy
Pepe certainly won’t be returning to Hustler anytime soon, but he’s also far from the first player on the popular stream to be involved in a controversial incident.
The stream was subject to a high-profile cheating investigation which rumbled on for many months after Robbi Jade Lew made a ludicrous call to beat Garrett Adelstein in a hand which instantly went viral.
Further on, co-creator Nick Vertucci was ejected from the show after several sexual harassment complaints, while another player, Mars, was publicly called out for his alleged cheating in private games.
Despite the endless controversies, however, it seems that as usual, the show will go on. So far, nobody from Hustler has commented on the matter.
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