Just when things seemed to be cooling down in the U.S. facing online gambling sector, Louisiana officials have made more arrests and have shut down a website that was apparently taking bets from residents in both Louisiana and Washington State, among others. Stemming from an interstate police sting that apparently took place over the course of one month with the aid of the Washington State Gamlbing Commission, Louisiana state troopers arrested three men residing in Seattle, Washington on charges of operating an illegal online gambling site.

The targeted website is known as Betcha.com, which for anybody familiar with the gaming industry, is not a mainstream operation or household name, if you will. However, Betcha.com certainly has not been out of the news. Earlier this year, the site's owner, Nicholas Jenkins, was ordered by Washington State officials to take down the website because of state laws explicitly banning online gambling. Jenkins, who is a lawyer, refused to do so, citing that since his website did not actually handle payouts of winnings to players, he was not breaking the law.

State officials, however, disagreed, which they showed by raiding the operations of Betcha.com. Although Jenkins is correct in stating his site does not divvy payments, Betcha.com receives deposits from players and imposes fees for making bets. Betcha.com is essentially an online betting exchange without any online casino games whatsoever. State officials went forth with the raid anyways. The case has not appeared before a court of law just yet, but when it does, Jenkins says he will fight it to the end. In fact, on the site, it says, "As it's better to live on your feet than die on your knees, we're not going to curl up in a proverbial ball". The website is also soliciting support from online bettors, asking them to contact the media and their local Congressman.

Now, however, Jenkins has something even larger to fight. Along with two other men, Peter Abrahamson (site administrator) and Jorie Imlay (head technician), Jenkins will be extradited to Louisiana (the process of which has already begun) and will likely face charges in a Louisiana courtroom. All three men could get up to five years in prison and fines up to $20,000. It is not known whether bail has been set for the three men at this time.