Well-known poker players Shahram "Shawn" Sheikhan, who rose to fame during his run to the final two tables of the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event, has been sentenced to four years in a federal prison for his role in operating an illegal cannabis dispensary near San Diego between 2019 and 2022.
Sheikhan received the sentence Friday morning in a US District Court of Southern California courtroom before presiding judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo. Sheikhan's sentencing hearing had been pushed back on several occasions after he pled guilty in June 2022 to a felony charge of illegal drug distriution through the operation of Cannaland, a marijuana dispensary that operated in an unincorporared part of San Diego County where such distribution businesses are illegal.
Sheikhan faced as much as a 40-year sentence and could have been fined as much as $5 million in the case, but he agreed to a $191,020 forfeiture as part of the plea deal. His prominent defense team, the Las Vegas-based law firm of Chesnoff and Schonfeld, argued that he should have received only probation in the case, while prosecutors sought an eight-year sentence. The four-year term Judge Bencivengo selected neatly split that gap in sentencing recommendations.
Sabriana Williams, who co-operated the Cannaland facility along with Sheikhan and who also pled guilty in 2022, received an 18-month sentence in a parallel sentencing before Judge Bencivengo on an equivalent felony charge.
