Poker News

After four months outside of the jurisdiction of authorities, poker player/alleged online poker room operator Bryan Micon is supposedly returning to the United States and, in particular, Las Vegas to face the singular charge of illegal gambling that he is facing.

According to David Ferrara of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, negotiations between Micon’s attorney David Chesnoff and Nevada Prosecutor Samuel Kem resulted in the arrest warrant against Micon being withdrawn and a hearing date set for next Thursday. Chesnoff stated to Ferrara that he expects Micon to attend that hearing after he surrenders and is booked at the Clark County Detention Center.

The case dates back to earlier this year when Micon – who didn’t exactly hide the fact that he was operating the Bitcoin-based Seals with Clubs online poker site – was raided by agents of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the Nevada Attorney General’s office. After handcuffing Micon and conducting a eight hour search of Micon’s home (and with Micon’s wife and daughter on the property), those authorities took numerous pieces of computer equipment and other evidence while releasing Micon without issue.

Micon, however, took this as a cue that he needed to leave the state. Nearly immediately after the raid, the Micon family left Nevada and found refuge in Antigua, home also to Bodog founder Calvin Ayre and Absolute Poker founder Scott Tom (who are wanted by federal authorities for their online gaming activities). From that locale, Micon issued a video statement that indicated he was willing to “take a stand” and fight against the “police state” that were investigating him. At this time, Micon also closed Seals with Clubs and restarted it under the name SwCPoker.

After his flight to Antigua, Nevada authorities wasted little time in pushing charges against Micon. In a highly publicized press conference in April, Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt announced that Micon would be charged with one count of operating an unlicensed interactive gaming system, detailing in court documents that, from March 1, 2014 to February 9, 2015 (the time of the raid of Micon’s home), Micon was owner and operator of Seals with Clubs and that he had not “procured and maintained the required licenses” to be able to service Nevada residents. The charge has a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and/or a $50,000 fine.

Naturally, Micon didn’t back down from the case put forth by the Nevada authorities. After the charge was filed in court against him, Micon launched a GoFundMe page, presumably in the effort to build money for a defense fund (Chesnoff is one of the top attorneys in Nevada who was responsible for getting poker player/businessman Paul Phua off of federal illegal gaming charges). Planning to raise $100,000, the GoFundMe drive only raised around $4000 before the site shut it down and, according to Ferrara, never issued Micon a dime of the money raised (Micon tweeted on May 16, “For reasons they will not disclose, GoFundMe has stopped funding me.”).

Since this flurry of activity in April, there has been a significant lack of information from Micon – who is well known for his social media outreach – nor has there been any further information from Nevada authorities.

What does the change in tone on both sides of the fight mean? It is extremely possible that, in the time that Micon has been out of the country, Chesnoff and Kem have been able to negotiate a suitable plea bargain that allows both sides to “save face” and get something they want out of the deal. As a part of that plea deal (perhaps to a lesser charge than currently on the table), Micon will probably face probation and a significant fine but will stay out of jail and not rack up a felony gambling conviction. Meanwhile, Nevada authorities make their example out of Micon and perhaps get some information from him regarding offshore online poker operators that continue to infiltrate Nevada’s regulated system and siphon off potential customers.

There is also the possibility that Chesnoff, emboldened by his defense of Phua, will fight to the fullest for Micon and look for either the case to be dismissed or for a full win with a strong defense. This is unlikely as, once Micon returns, he will be released on his own recognizance (not something normally done with someone who has fled to a country that would not extradite him) to attend the hearing next week.

Whichever is the case, there case against Bryan Micon will have another chapter come next week. Either through a plea deal or through a litigation of the case, there will be interesting information that comes to light.

2 Comments

  1. 2FaceJacks says:

    Antigua will not extradite anyone for online gambling because it is legal there. A crime has to be illegal in both countries for extradition to take place. The US only blocked online gaming as a way of protecting casino operations and now US based online operators. The US still has to pay Antigua millions of dollars from when they won the WTO decision. To this date they have not paid a single penny, so much for pushing everyone to join the WTO.

  2. Earl Burton says:

    Hello Jacks,

    You’re correct with the situation with Antigua and everything else stated. Makes you wonder why Micon decided to come back to the U. S., unless he’s not going to get hammered that hard.

    Thanks for reading!

    EB

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