The United States Department of Justice has confirmed they will not be appealing a decision by a federal judge to throw out illegal gambling and conspiracy charges agains professional poker player Paul Phua.
Phua, his son, and several associates were charged with facilitating illegal sports bets during the 2014 World Cup last year, but the way in which the federal government gathered evidence was found to be illegal. Because of this the prosecution in the case had insufficient evidence to press forward with the case and US District Judge Andrew Gordon tossed out the charges.
The Department of Justice had mulled re-charging Phua, but could not find a way to move forward with their lack of evidence. The announcement was hailed by Phua's attorney David Chessnoff, who said, “On behalf of Mr Phua, we are pleased that the wisdom of Judge Gordon’s decision is not being challenged."