Accused illegal online bookie Wei Seng ‘Paul’ Phua has won a major court fight over the admissibility of evidence against him collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On Friday, US District Judge Andrew Gordon ruled that federal prosecutors couldn’t use evidence obtained via an elaborate FBI ruse. Gordon also said the FBI had violated Phua’s privacy rights in pulling off their investigative shenanigans.

Phua and seven other defendants were arrested last July following an FBI raid on three luxury villas at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Suspecting the occupants were engaging in illegal online betting on the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the FBI conspired with Caesars staff to cut off the villas’ internet connection. When Phua & Co. called Caesars to complain, the FBI sent in agents posing as tech support equipped with hidden body-cameras. The video footage was then used to obtain the warrants that led to the arrests.

The case attracted attention far beyond gambling circles, as civil libertarians decried what many viewed as violations of the suspects’ fourth amendment rights against illegal search and seizure. Even the Assistant US Attorney handling the case had warned agents in advance that their subterfuge raised certain “consent issues.”