Bryan Micon could face between 8 and 20 years behind bars after the State of Nevada issued a warrant for his arrest on charges related to his role with Seals With Clubs.
Bryan Micon has been charged with Class B Felony, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
The papers were served via a Clark County Court, after the State of Nevada charged him with ‘operating an unlicensed interactive gaming system,’ for his role with the online poker site, Seals With Clubs, during the time frame March 1, 2014 – February 15, 2015.
The news comes two months after police raided his Las Vegas home, and various electronic gadgets were confiscated, after the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) invoked a search warrant.
Speaking to the media about the arrest warrant, Attorney General Adam Laxalt declared: “Defending Nevada’s worldwide reputation as the gold standard of gaming integrity is a paramount concern to tens of thousands of Nevadans employed by the industry and the 41 million tourists who visit the state each year.”
Laxalt was joined at the press conference by Chairman of the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, A.G. Burnett, and Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission, Tony Alamo, where it was alleged that Micon operated Seals With Clubs without being equipped with the appropriate licenses to do so.
Writing in the Las Vegas Review Journal, David Ferrara, claims that Gaming Agent Ricardo Lopez created an account on the site, and conducted surveillance on Micon’s home, and his social media accounts. It’s clear that in their opinion Micon operated Seals With Clubs.
After the raid on his home, Seals With Clubs was shut down. Micon moved his family to Antigua, and declared his intention to continue operating a Bitcoin only online poker site known as SWCpoker.eu, after stating he didn’t want his two-year old daughter to grow up “in a police state where creativity is often met with guns and handcuffs and what not.”
On April 22, Micon tweeted that time was running out for Seals With Clubs players to withdraw their account balances. According to Ferrarra’s article, Skype conversations collected by the agency showed estimated earnings at Seals With Clubs in the region of $10-$12k per month.
Only a few days left to withdraw any balance from @SealsWithClubs Please tell anyone you know to withdraw ASAP
— Bryan Micon (@BryanMicon) April 22, 2015
As news of the arrest warrant spread across the media, Micon went to his Twitter account to seek support in his fight against the charges.
Please help me fight this: Bryan Micon’s Legal Defense Fund: http://t.co/vi3D9lTuex via @gofundme
— Bryan Micon (@BryanMicon) April 28, 2015
At the time of writing his GoFundMe account has raised $1,880 in the 13-hours since it appeared on the Internet. 20 people in total have pledged their support. He hopes to raise $100,000 for his defense.
That defense has fallen into the hands of his lawyer David Chesnoff who is fast becoming a magnet for poker players. He is the man trying his very best to clear Paul Phua of his illegal sports betting charges, in Las Vegas, and was also by the side of Dan Bilzerian, after he found himself in a spot of bother by blowing up a tractor in a desert.
“I maintain that I have committed no wrongdoing.” Micon wrote on his GoFundMe page. “As a husband, father of a 2 year old girl, and outspoken Bitcoin advocate, I desire nothing more than to continue to be with my wife, raise my daughter and continue to build layers on top of the Bitcoin protocol. The State of Nevada desire to take that away from me. Please help me fight.”
If you want to get into Micon’s corner, then click here to help him.
