A Los Angeles, California, man who characterised himself as a bitcoin billionaire earlier than launching a Jackson Gap-area spending spree that landed him in jail on fraud fees has skipped courtroom and is needed in all 50 states.
Kevin Segal, 30, is going through as much as 141.5 years in jail on claims he cheated giant and small Teton County companies out of almost $212,000.
He begged Teton County District Court docket Choose Melissa Owens to let him out of jail earlier this 12 months, and Owens refused.
Segal then turned to a pal he made whereas in Jackson Gap, Jason Irvine, who spoke with Cowboy State Day by day on Friday.
“He defined the state of affairs and was principally denying all the costs written within the newspaper, and stated it was libel and slander; and he didn’t intend to defraud anyone,” Irvine recalled from his talks with Segal. “He was locked up in jail, and (stated) that’s why he couldn’t pay anyone off.”
Irvine recalled what he characterised as Segal’s insistence: that if he might simply get out of jail, he might entry his ample financial savings and set the state of affairs proper.
Segal’s bond was set at $50,000 cash-only. He promised Irvine a hefty bitcoin payout roughly equating to a half-million {dollars}, if Irvine would publish the bond, the latter stated.
However apart from the promise of compensation, they had been mates, stated Irvine. He’d additionally spoken at size to certainly one of Segal’s members of the family, who “half vouched” for Segal, he stated on reflection, and who instructed him he was doing “the Lord’s work” by bonding the person out of jail.
Irvine maxed out three bank cards to publish the bond quantity, he stated.
Bye
Segal acquired out of jail on Feb. 14, however underneath a strict courtroom order to show in his passport to the Teton County Sheriff’s Workplace.
Round that point, Owens reassigned the case to Park County District Court docket Choose Invoice Simpson, who oversees it now.
Simpson famous that Segal by no means handed in his passport. So the decide set a Wednesday convention listening to at which Segal was to look by digital hyperlink and clarify why he hadn’t adopted the courtroom’s order.
Segal by no means confirmed, in response to a later submitting by Simpson.
On the request of Teton County Deputy Legal professional Andrew Hardenbrook, the decide forfeited the $50,000 bond.
Simpson additionally issued a 50-states bench warrant for Segal’s arrest. This time, Segal might be held on a $750,000 cash-only bond if and when he’s captured, says the decide’s order.
The warrant describes Segal as a white male born in 1994, standing five-foot-seven, weighing 150 kilos, and having black hair and brown eyes. His handle is in Los Angeles, California.
At noon Friday, Irvine was taking a look at his choices for submitting chapter. He stated he hopes Segal may be caught so he stands an opportunity of getting his a refund. And he recalled an indignant textual content he despatched to the person, which he associated as saying: “You actually screwed me over, and now I actually don’t imagine something you say anymore. You’re a sociopath and a con man, and also you’re going to get what you deserve.”
When Cowboy State Day by day tried to contact Segal on the cellphone quantity Irvine supplied, the road didn’t work. Segal’s cellphone quantity as listed in courtroom paperwork didn’t work both, as of noon Friday.
Not Caught But
Authorities hadn’t caught Segal as of Friday morning, Teton County Sheriff’s Sgt. John Faicco instructed Cowboy State Day by day.
“We don’t know his precise whereabouts proper now,” stated Faicco. He stated the dissemination of Segal’s reserving photograph could assist individuals determine if he had been nonetheless within the space, however he additionally has ties to California and to the Philippines, Faicco stated.
“We need to carry him again right here so we are able to have some sort of restitution for all of our native victims – as a result of there have been lots of people, apart from larger corporations, which were affected,” the sergeant added.
Court docket paperwork checklist automotive dealerships, resorts, a grocery-delivery service, a courier and others as these impacted.
Faicco credited Teton County Sheriff’s Detective Adam Rainey with “a unbelievable job investigating this case.”
As a result of Of The Model-New Truck
The Teton County Sheriff’s Workplace began investigating Segal in March of 2024 due to a report from the Rocky Mountain Yeti automotive dealership in Jackson, Wyoming, that Segal had agreed to wire $159,427 for a 2024 Dodge Ram 3500 pickup, however the wire didn’t undergo.
A staffer of the dealership tried following up with Segal, who then minimize a verify to the dealership, says an affidavit Rainey compiled for the case.
The verify didn’t clear both, the doc says.
Teton County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jesse Willcox tried monitoring Segal down. He’d been staying on the Caldera Home however had checked out March 21 — six days after he took possession of the pickup, the affidavit says. One other a part of the doc claims Segal “snuck out the again” with out paying.
The affidavit says that when Willcox referred to as Caldera Home, he realized that not solely had Segal checked out, however he’d left with out paying his excellent visitor invoice and bar tab totaling $14,870.30.
Willcox had had a “regulation enforcement associated contact” with Segal prior at a rental property on the Spring Creek Ranch earlier that month, so he reached out to Spring Creek administration to seek out the person – solely to seek out that Segal was now not a visitor there both, the affidavit says.
A warrant was issued for the person’s arrest March 28, 2024.
Bar Tabs And Resort Stays
Rainey took over the case since there have been questions of different, “fraudulent acts” that surfaced throughout Willcox’s seek for Segal, the detective wrote.
“As I investigated the case I found that Segal had dedicated a number of felony fraudulent actions and had falsely represented himself as a Bitcoin billionaire as a way to assist perform his scheme of deception,” Rainey added.
The alleged billionaire persona deceived upscale companies and smaller courier operations alike, the doc claims.
From Jan. 31-Feb. 2 Segal stayed on the Amangani resort together with his mom and a pal, racking up a $2,725.76 invoice that went unpaid when the bank card he positioned was discovered to be fraudulent, Rainey wrote.
At Spring Creek Ranch, three playing cards meant to pay payments of $16,509.60 and $5,728.80 additionally turned up fraudulent, says the doc.
Segal stored a tab on the Mangy Moose in Teton Village and racked up a $3,055.28 invoice that went unpaid, Rainey added.
Drones And Deliveries
The doc says Segal had a person choose up a DJI drone for him. The person was to purchase the drone in Colorado, and Segal would reimburse him for that, it provides.
Segal minimize the person a verify for the drone, of $3,281.46, and that didn’t clear, Rainey wrote.
On March 27, about 12 days after Segal took possession of the Dodge truck, authorities used the truck’s GPS system to trace him down – to his residence in Redondo Seashore, California, the doc says.
The Redondo Seashore Police Division took possession of the truck. Later they arrested him.
The Rocky Mountain Yeti dealership instructed investigators it took a $27,100 loss on the truck, together with its off-lot depreciation and the prices of recovering it.
The Supply Man
The doc says Segal despatched a supply man to drive the Dodge Ram to Los Angeles. The supply man and his son drove the pickup from Jackson to Los Angeles “nonstop,” then went to the airport to take their return flight to Jackson – since Segal had promised them he’d purchase their homebound tickets, says the affidavit.
The boys realized on the airport that Segal hadn’t purchased them any airplane tickets. They checked right into a lodge room amid Segal’s recurring guarantees he’d care for the problem, the affidavit says.
When Segal didn’t care for the problem, the ship males purchased airplane tickets residence out of his personal pocket, Rainey wrote.
The person despatched Segal a invoice for $3,101 for the drive, gas, airline tickets, lodge and different journey bills. On March 27, Segal despatched the person a screenshot of a wire switch, however no wire switch ever went via, the doc says.
The Grocery Gal
A girl who delivers groceries for individuals in Teton County stated Segal additionally used her companies, however his bank card fees had been cancelled. That complete was $441.25, the doc says.
The affidavit’s tally for all the costs that Segal is accused of not paying at varied Teton County companies is as follows:
• Amangani $2,725.76
• Spring creek ranch $24,905.28
• Grocery service $441.25
• Mangy Moose $3,055.28
• Rocky Mountain Yeti Auto $159,427.04
• Drone Supply Man $3,281.46
• Wyoming Division of Transportation $45
• Caldera Home $14,870.3
• Pickup Supply Man $3,101
• These figures complete $211,852.37.
Clair McFarland may be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
