Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The wealthy owner of an art gallery in the Carlyle Hotel took a plea Tuesday in the massive federal case against an alleged illegal gambling operation that sounds like something out of a movie, not least because it involves actual movie stars. Hillel “Helly” Nahmad pleaded guilty to one count of operating an illegal gambling business that evolved, as New York reported over the summer, from a regular poker game at Tobey Maguire’s house. Nahmad managed to avoid racketeering, money laundering, and fraud charges, but he still faces twelve to eighteen months in prison.
