It seems to be the season to plead guilty for bitcoin and cryptocurrency related crimes. Starting with the two ex-federal agents Shaun Bridges and Carl Force from the United States Secret Service and United States Drug Enforcement Agency for stealing bitcoins from Silk Road to the latest one being Bryan Micon.
Bryan Micon is a Bitcoin entrepreneur who started Seals with Clubs, a bitcoin poker site from Las Vegas. Soon, he got into trouble for running an illegal poker room without obtaining required licenses. Under investigation by the Nevada Gambling Commission, he was served a warrant accusing him of violating various state laws by operating an interactive gaming site without appropriate licenses. The warrant was served soon after Las Vegas Police raided his house to confiscate his computers. Even though he wasn’t formally charged after the raid, Bryan Micon left for Antigua along with his family to avoid any further trouble with the law enforcement authorities.
After being in Antigua for two months, Bryan Micon has now gone back to Las Vegas after agreeing to plead guilty for the charges against him and forfeit the computer and other electronics along with few bitcoins and cash that were confiscated from his home during the raid. By pleading guilty, Bryan will be avoiding the jail term.
He will however be required to pay a fine of about $25,000 and serve an undetermined probation on the felony count for operating interactive gaming system without having appropriate licenses. Bryan Micon’s lawyers from Chesnoff & Schonfeld believe that it would be an appropriate resolution for the ongoing dispute.
According to papers filed in the court, Bryan had initially started without any licenses but eventually he got all the required licenses and the investigation into Seals with Clubs was initiated on behest of a compliant received from a Belgian resident.