U.S. Digital Gaming Inc. late Tuesday said that its board has hired former Fox and Walt Disney Co. senior executive Jon Richmond as its chief executive.

The Beverly Hills company hopes to deploy an Internet gambling platform in the United States. Federal law currently prohibits interstate online wagering, but California and several other states have considered legislation that could make online poker legal under the same doctrine that permits lotteries.

As president of News Corp. Digital Media and earlier at Disney, Richmond oversaw the development and operation of sites that included Fox.com, FoxSports.com and FOXNews.com. He most recently was a managing director at investment firm Houlihan Lokey, where he led the media, sports, gaming and entertainment industry group.

“Jon’s expertise sits squarely at the confluence of digital entertainment, online commerce and our vision of gambling,” Chairman Richard “Skip” Bronson said in a statement. “He brings broad expertise and experience to our industry, and I’m confident that he’ll create a meaningful, high-impact footprint, as he has done at Fox, Disney, and Houlihan Lokey.”