The Washington Post's coverage of Western Maryland's Darvin Moon, who's made it to the final table of the World Series of Poker, has been great entertainment. The writer, J. Freedom du Lac, has a blog about Moon, "Darvin Moon's World Series of Poker Adventure," and has filed some excellent stories, including today's, "The lumberjack fells some giants in Las Vegas."
"He's the accidental folk hero baffled by his own celebrity," du Lac writes, quoting Moon as saying, "The last time I signed an autograph, I was getting out of jail." Moon explains his refusal to sign with sponsors by saying, "My freedom and my happiness isn't worth all the money in the world."
Now that Moon's a freedom-loving folk hero-and a rich one, at that, having already earned millions for his series performance so far-his prior run-ins with the law may be of public interest. Maryland court records show him pleading guilty, and receiving probation before judgment, for forgery and theft in 2003 (including a restitution order of $6,146) and for three counts of passing bad checks in 2004. Two other bad-check cases in 2004 were dropped, as was a criminal harassment charge in 2007. He also pleaded guilty and was fined for open burning, and he failed to appear for traffic violations, resulting in his license being suspended.
The court records have Moon showing signs of generosity, having posted bail for others twice. The first time, in 2002, was for Michael Anthony Inglese, who pleaded guilty to drug dealing and received a 10-year prison sentence. (Inglese's lawyer was well-known Baltimore criminal-defense attorney Stanley Needleman.) The other time, Darvin Moon sprung Albert Manuel Moon, who later pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in 2004.
But it is Moon's record of civil judgments against him that may come into play in the future, given the kitties he's been winning in Vegas. Court records show liens filed against Moon for nearly $20,000 owed to City National Bank of West Virginia, a little over $1,000 owed to
Miners and Merchants Bank, nearly $13,000 owed to Pasadena Receivables, and about $1,000 owed to Southern Auto Supply in Moon's own community of Mountain Lake Park, near Oakland in Western Maryland.
His creditors, no doubt, will be much obliged to share in his recent winnings.
Attempts to reach Moon through his attorney, Jack Turney, and at his hotel suite at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas were unsuccessful.
