Fans of televised poker might keep in mind Shawn Sheikhan from his frequent appearances on ESPN’s protection of the World Series of Poker and different reveals within the 2000s. He will likely be away from the sport for fairly some time, nevertheless, after being sentenced to 4 years in jail final week following a responsible plea to operating an unlawful hashish enterprise.
Sheikhan’s attorneys hoped he might keep away from jail time and as an alternative obtain a sentence that included probation. However, Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo agreed with prosecutors’ request for 48 months behind bars adopted by three years of supervised launch. He might have confronted a most of 40 years and a $5 million advantageous.
Law Enforcement Busts Major Operation
The case stems from an underground marijuana enterprise that Sheikhan helped function in Southern California from 2019-22. The enterprise was often known as “Cannaland” and acted as a wholesale provider of marijuana and associated merchandise to unlicensed and unlawful marijuana dispensaries in Southern California.
Cannaland additionally served as an unlicensed, unlawful marijuana dispensary as effectively, serving particular person prospects, according to federal prosecutors.
State and federal legislation enforcement, together with the FBI and IRS, performed an investigation into the operation. During a search of the enterprise in Spring Valley, California, officers seized greater than 3,000 kilos of marijuana with an estimated road worth of $6 million, together with 5 firearms.
Even after the search was executed, prosecutors stated Sheikhan and enterprise associate Sabriana Williams obtained substitute firearms for the operation’s safety guards and continued to run their enterprise. As a part of plea agreements final June, Sheikhan, Williams, and others concerned admitted to drug, firearm, and cash laundering fees.
“The FBI is committed to keeping our communities safe from the vast array of violent crimes and criminal activity which accompanies these illegal establishments,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy stated on the time of the plea deal.
Sheikhan additionally owned and ran a sequence of tattoo and tobacco outlets in Las Vegas.
Poker Winnings, Other Brushes With Law
At the poker tables, Sheikhan has greater than $1.6 million in stay match winnings. His largest end got here within the 2005 WSOP foremost occasion, the place he took eleventh for $600,000.
Appearing commonly on present’s like High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark, Sheikhan’s televised poker appearances typically included some friction with different gamers together with Mike Matusow and Phil Hellmuth.
As a part of his settlement with prosecutors, Sheikhan forfeited $300,000 in money, a lot of that in on line casino chips. He is now ordered to give up to the U.S. Marshals Service by Jan. 1 to start his sentence.
This isn’t Sheikhan’s first run-in with the legislation. In 1995 when he was 26, he was convicted of sexual battery and annoyance or molestation of a 17-year-old in California. Sheikhan served 9 months in jail and 5 years of probation for the crime, based on the Las Vegas Review-Journal. That later prompted deportation proceedings towards the Iranian-born Sheikhan in 2007, however he was in the end allowed to remain within the nation.
