A U.S. immigration judge said he would not continue with the deportation case of well known poker pro Shahram “Shawn†Sheikhan on Thursday of this week. The judge said that the Department of Homeland Security, who are the ones that are responsible for starting these proceedings, did not provide sufficient evidence in support of the deportation motion.
The judge that is handling this case is Judge Harry Gastley. The ruling that came after the detainment of Sheikhan in August, was based on allegations that the Iranian-born Sheikhan has committed several crimes that involved moral acts not arising from a single act of criminal misconduct. The case came about from a 1995 misdemeanor conviction in California’s Contra Costa County, involving, according to reports that have been published, sexual battery and annoyance or molestation of a child.
Sheikhan served nine months in a jail and then received five years probation for those charges that he was convicted of doing. However, David Chesnoff, who is a prominent Las Vegas attorney that is representing Sheikhan in the deportation case, described these allegations in that case as being blown out of proportion.
Contra Costa officials could not provide specific information from the 1995 case, saying that they only keep records of misdemeanor convictions for ten years and that deadline expired two years ago. Sheikhan, who is 38 years-old, maintains legal resident alien status, had been detained for about a week on a immigration hold in August before he was released on bail.
Sheikhan, immigrated to the U.S. in 1983 and he has an American born wife. Sheikhan first became significant in the poker world when he made a deep run in the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event, where he played the role of the verbal sparring partner of Mike “The Mouth†Matusow.    Â