I'm just wondering where OP got their information from... Its not illegal on a federal level in the United States, though it is illegal in some states:
https://www.pokerwebsites.com/faq/#aThe short answer is yes, online poker is legal in the United States on the individual level. It’s certainly not illegal federally, despite many misleading statements over the years from government officials and those in favor of online gambling prohibition.
It can get a little tricky on the state level. Most states don’t have laws against online gambling, but in some states, such as Washington state, online gambling is a felony offense. Citizens can even be prosecuted for simply having online poker software on their computers. States that have laws against individual gamblers, like Utah and Louisiana, also criminalize online poker by default.
With that said, no one has ever been prosecuted on the national or state level for playing online poker. Even in Washington state, there have been zero online poker arrests. Even though these laws are on the books, no one is being arrested or prosecuted. So yes, it is safe to play poker from the US. Please see the referenced article for a complete article on safety and more here about getting scammed in poker.
Currently, online poker is legal and regulated in New Jersey, Delaware, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Players in those states will have no issues playing on regulated sites in these states, but more on this later.
I've never had any problems playing online poker at Nitrogensports even though I registered my account in the US and played from there several times.