One of the men accused of being part of a high stakes private poker games cheating gang has been arrested while trying to flee to Colombia. Shane Hennen is believed to have been trying to evade authorities investigating the Jontay Porter NBA stat-shaving scheme.
The latest twist in the multi-pronged saga saw Hennen arrested by police at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on Sunday morning.
Hennen had a one-way ticket to Colombia according to John Marzulli, public information officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
His defence attorney, however, claims he was heading to Colombia for dental treatment and had a round-trip ticket.
The Jontay Porter Scandal
Hennen was allegedly involved in “a conspiracy to defraud an online sports betting website”, encouraging Toronto Raptors’ star Jontay Porter to withdraw from select games.
Using this “advanced, insider knowledge”, Hennen and his co-conspirators placed “under prop” bets. The sums in question saw five-figure bets and seven-figure payouts.
Porter – who owed serious gambling debts – was given a lifetime ban earlier this year for violating NBA gambling rules, while two of Hennen’s four co-defendants have already pleaded guilty to their part in the scam.
The Poker Connection
One of those co-defendants in the Porter case, Long Phi Pham, known as “Bruce” in the Californian highstakes cash-game scene, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy last year.
Pham, Hennen, and several others – including Arnaud Mattern and Ye ‘Tony Mars’ Shen – were accused by several Hustler Casino Live regs of cheating at least two private games in Yorba Linda, Los Angeles.
Wesley “Wes Side” Fei took to Twitter to “out” Hennen and others, claiming they had “stolen” $15million from the games by cheating…
Peter AKA shane hennen AKA Colin. He’s a convicted felon. Wow. Real criminal, guess Mars didn’t lie to me. pic.twitter.com/uJgh0rrVhY
— Dr.Hash“Wesley” (@CryptoApprenti1) December 7, 2023
…although Mattern subsequently launched a defamation lawsuit against Fei and fellow HCL reg Nik ‘Airball’ Arcot in response to the accusations.
Escape from New York
Hennen’s apparent escape plan this week was a mirror image of Pham’s last year, which also ended at the airport gates.
Pham was arrested at JFK International Airport in New York where he was waiting to board a flight to Australia with a one-way ticket. When police apprehended the 38-year-old he was found with $12,000 in cash, two cashier’s checks totaling $80,000 and three cell phones.
Hennen’s escape from Las Vegas also reportedly saw him carrying a large amount of cash and several phones, according to ESPN
Judge Unimpressed by Supervision Order
Hennen’s arrest this week was short-lived, however, the suspect released from custody on Monday, despite federal prosecutors initially stating they had “substantial evidence that the defendant has conducted or caused to be conducted illicit financial transactions and fraudulent sports wagers totaling millions of dollars.”
However, they later asked the court to place him on supervision to ensure future court appearances in New York. U.S. Magistrate Judge Elayna Youchah seemed unimpressed, stating: “The court finds — reluctantly, perhaps — that those conditions will suffice to ensure his appearance.”
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