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A well-liked poker tournament photographer, Jay “WhoJedi” Newnum has been charged with larceny in the state of Connecticut for allegedly stealing dealer tips at the Foxwoods Casino.
The arrest occurred on-site on December 16 with the case disposed of on December 24 as part of Connecticut’s Accelerated Pretrial Rehabilitation program that allows first time offenders of minor crimes to bypass jail time.
Newnum’s arrest only came to light on January 8 following a released statement by casino union president Billy Shea on the Local 2121 Facebook page:
" Attention All Poker Dealers:
What I am about to inform you all is highly disturbing and very upsetting to me and all who have been involved with this process.
First off I would like to thank George, Eric and Angela for all their hard and diligent work in taking care of the Poker Dealers concerning this issue.
We had a theft in the Poker Room of tournament tip money by Jay Newmun. He was hired by Foxwoods sometime back as a live video blogger to cover daily poker tournaments. He was caught just before Christmas after video coverage was reviewed and subsequently arrested and charged with the crime of theft after he confessed to the crime.
After meeting with a lead investigator at Foxwoods it was determined that Mr. Newmun on both Dec. 9th and 14th was observed with similar behavior on these dates consistent to the behavior the day he was caught. Last week he was presented in court and applied for Accelerated Rehabilitation AR for the theft of $700 of dealer toke money. In the State of Ct you are given one free pass in regards to crimes such as this where if you have no prior criminal history you are eligible for the AR Program.
We have requested a review of the film to see if the toke box on both the 9th and 14th is visible on camera to see if indeed money was in the box and either disturbed or taken by Mr. Newmun. If we can find evidence of this behavior we will proceed to contact the State Police again and ask for this case to again be reviewed for the possibility of him being rearrested for this crime.
This individual has been barred by both the Ct State and Mashantucket Police. I can assure all that this person will never again step foot on Foxwoods property. Also a letter is being drafted by the lead investigator of which will be forwarded to the World Poker Tour WPT. Mr. Newmun has been employed by the WPT and its imperative that they be informed of his actions and subsequent behavior. Further this information will be processed through Griffin Investigators whom will notify all casinos of these actions.
The money has been returned to the Poker Tournament Pool as George, Angela and Eric took care of this on Monday.
Please be assured that we will keep you informed of any updates concerning this despicable behavior.
Thank you / Posted by Billy "
In an odd twist, some in the poker community have questioned whether industry media has attempted to sweep this story under the rug in order to “protect one of its own”.
Gambling911.com Senior Editor Payton O’Brien asserted Monday morning: “Gambling911.com has never met with or had any knowledge of this individual, Mr. Newnum, and only learned of this story Monday. Whether others closer to Mr. Newnum knew of the incident and attempted to keep the story quiet is not known to us”.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
