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Louisiana officials will find out today whether they can extradite Peter Dicks from New York. Capt. Joe Lentini, head of Louisiana State Police’s gaming enforcement section, said the case against Peter Dicks is likely to be the first of many as Louisiana steps up enforcement of its Internet gambling law.

“Anybody who’s involved in something like this that allows gambling in Louisiana needs to worry,” Lentini said. Dicks was arrested Sept. 6, as he was traveling through JFK International Airport in New York and after spending two nights in jail Dicks was freed on $50,000 bail. If Dicks is extradited, he would appear before a judge in St. Landry Parish and would be prosecuted by the local district attorney.

Louisiana’s is considered one of the toughest because “gambling by computer” is so broadly written that it allows law enforcement officials to go after anyone who assists with Internet gambling, Lentini said. The maximum penalty is five years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

Louisiana State Police have been surfing the Internet and attempting to place bets on Internet wagering as Such betting could interfere with the state’s interest in collecting taxes from regulated forms of wagering.