Poker pro Shahram “Shawn” Sheikhan faces deportation to Iran
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It’s too bad Mike Matusow is busy trying to win the Borgata Open, because we’d sure like to hear a quip or two from him regarding the legal predicament currently facing his sorta-nemesis Shahram “Shawn” Sheikhan.
Sheikhan, who is from Iran but has lived in the US since he was 9 and has been a legal permanent resident for nearly 25 years, was arrested by immigration officials late last month and now faces deportation.
The action stems from a crime Sheikhan was convicted of in 1993. He served 9 months on a conviction of sexual battery and annoyance or molestation of a child, and now federal officials are looking to deport him as a result of that conviction.
According to an email from Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, published in the Las Vegas Review Journal:
“This individual was targeted for ICE arrest because of his criminal history,”
“ICE has an ongoing initiative called Operation Predator targeting individuals, including foreign nationals, who prey upon and sexually exploit children.”
Kice said immigration officials believe Sheikhan’s conviction is “a deportable offense, but ultimately it will be up to an immigration judge to make that determination.”
“We want to see him removed from the United States,” she said later Wednesday.
Sheikhan has yet to comment on the matter. His lawyers plan to fight to deportation and possibly the initial conviction as well.
