Former Pitcher Chacon Arrested Over Las Vegas Gambling Debt

Former pitcher Shawn Chacon has now become the latest athlete to be arrested for a gambling debt in a Las Vegas casino. On Monday, Chacon was arrested at a bowling alley in Colorado and booked in the Weld County Jail.

Chacon will face felony charges relating to three bad checks that he wrote to Caesar's palace in Las Vegas back in March. The casino had given Chacon markers totaling $150,000 during his stay at the casino under the assumption that the pitcher would pay the markers back.

The state of Nevada considers the crime of not paying casino markers the same as passing bad checks. Chacon will now have to pay the markers and hope that the judge shows leniency on him for failing to pay in the appropriate time frame.

The problems for Chacon were two-fold last year. He not only ran up the debt at Caesar's, but he also was released by the team he was pitching for, the Houston Astros. Houston released Chacon after he grabbed GM Ed Wade by the neck and threw him to the ground in the team's dining room.

The Clark County District attorney's office is seeking bail of around $165,000 for Chacon. The player had a playing career in which he played for several different teams and was an All-Star once, back in 2003.

October 6, 2009
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
Submit News!