Bryan Micon, former operator of the ‘Seals with Clubs’ Bitcoin poker website, has agreed to plead guilty to a charge of operating an unlicensed gaming site.
As reported by iGaming Business, Micon this week agreed to travel from his home in Antigua to the US in order to attend a court hearing in Nevada.
Micon was in April charged with one count of operating an unlicensed interactive gambling website.
The charge came after Micon fled the country in February after Nevada Gaming Commission officials raided his home following the closure of the Seals with Clubs poker site.
However, an arrest warrant that was approved in connection with the charges was recalled in order to allow Micon to return to the US.
Micon faced up to 10 years in prison and $50,000 (€44,700) in fines if he was convicted of the charges.
However, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Micon’s attorney, Richard Schonfeld, told a judge yesterday (Thursday) that Micon has agreed to plead guilty in order to avoid jail time.
Schonfeld said that should Micon complete an undetermined probation on a felony count of operating an unlicensed interactive gaming system, in addition to paying a $25,000 fine, his charge would be reduced to a gross misdemeanour.
Micon would also be required to give up computers, $900 in cash and 3.0996 Bitcoins that gaming authorities seized during the raid earlier this year.
Although Micon declined to comment during the hearing, Schonfeld called the agreement an “appropriate resolution”.
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
