Jay WhoJediNewnum (pictured) is leaving the poker world “indefinitely,” according to a statement posted on his website on Tuesday. Newnum, who has been entangled in an incident at Foxwoods reportedly involving theft, wrote, “It seems for the best that I step away from the poker world indefinitely. I do want to say thank you to my family and my friends, both inside and outside of poker, who have been incredibly supportive during this time.” He did not discuss the incident specifically.

According to Pokerfuse and a series of Facebook posts from Local 2121, a union of assistant supervisors and dealers, Newnum was picked up on larceny charges and is barred from Foxwoods. The Facebook post read in part, “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.”

A total of $700 in tip money was allegedly taken and, according to Pokerfuse, Newnum was picked up on December 16. The site added that the case was “disposed of on December 24 by [Newnum] applying for Accelerated Pretrial Rehabilitation, a program in Connecticut that allows first-time offenders accused of a crime to bypass a term of jail time in instances where the violation is not considered of a serious nature.” Foxwoods is investigating whether similar infractions occurred on December 9 and 14.

The President of Local 2121, Billy Shea, posted on the group’s Facebook page on Saturday, “Since the story broke that there was a theft of $700 of dealer tokes in the poker room, some in the poker community have doubted the legitimacy of this posting… Everything pertaining to this incident… is accurate and factual.”

Newnum added on his website that he had reached out to Shea: “I called Mr. Shea personally. We spoke at length, not about what he had posted, but instead about the reactions from the community. I hold no ill will against him, as he simply did what he felt he needed to do as union president. It was a great conversation with Billy and I do appreciate him taking the time to speak with me.”

Newnum has traversed the US covering poker tournaments and providing photography. Pokerfuse noted, “At the time of the incident, Foxwoods (pictured) was holding their December Mega Stacks event where it has been suggested Newnum was in charge of internet live streaming, blogging, photos, and posting results.”

Plenty of support came for Newnum, an respected member of the poker community for as long as this author can remember. PokerNews Editor-in-Chief Donnie Peters wrote on Twitter, “Hope this all works out for him.” Meanwhile, Dan Shak cautioned, “Please don’t spread something like this till confirmed. I don’t think things like this should be Tweeted till fact.”

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