Deportation for Sheiky?

[Cal, checking in---]

The late week shocker in the poker world was a news piece published by a Las Vegas newspaper that detailed the arrest by immigration authorities of Shahram "Shawn" Sheikhan. According to the report, Sheikhan had been previously convicted in Contra Costa County, California, of some sort of assualt/sexual battery on a minor. Sheikhan, an Iranian national who is a legal U.S. resident, spent nine months in a California prison, followed by several years of probation.

The wheels of justice turn slow, but apparently a double check of old arrest records by the immigration folks turned up the conviction, and, according to the Vegas newspaper report, since there were at least two separate incidents involved, it means that Sheikhan was eligible to be deported. This led to Sheikhan's late August arrest; he has since posted bail and has retained a high-profile Vegas lawyer to represent him in the upcoming deportation hearing.

Cheap references to Amarillo Slim Preston aside, Sheikhan has been a lightning rod of sorts in recent years, displaying questionable behavior on multiple occasions. It's unknown as to whether any other factors played into the Immigration Department's decision to go after Sheikhan at this time, though he's certainly a high-profile target. Sheikhan was also involved in a 1999 incident where he lost control of his car during a rainstorm and hit another vehicle, causing the death of one of the passengers in the other car.

Expect more news on the Shawn Sheikhan tale in the near future.