A judge sentenced a Michigan poker player to three years in federal prison.
In 2023, George Janssen claimed he was kidnapped before later pleading guilty to fraud. The judge’s sentence was related to the fraud charges.
But some doubt whether the bizarre kidnapping scenario actually happened. Janssen made international headlines when he claimed he was captured and taken to a different state. He was missing for 35 days. However, he resurfaced with his hands zip-tied and a bloody face along a rural road in a nearby township about 10 miles from his home.
After a Justice Department investigation, authorities charged the 42-year-old with financial institution fraud. The FBI found that Janssen engineered a scheme to take out $3.9 million in fraudulent loans through his car dealership, Bay Auto Brokers in Bay City.
Investigators found that Janssen used fake documents to apply for loans using fictitious vehicles as collateral. In addition to the time behind bars, the judge handed Janssen three years of supervised release. Lastly, he must pay $908,235 in restitution to victims.
Bizarre Kidnapping Scenario
The sentencing brings a close to one of the more interesting crime-related poker stories over the last few years. At the poker tables, Janssen has more than $500,000 in live tournament earnings. That includes four WSOP Circuit rings and a Mid-States Poker Tour title (now known as the Major Series of Poker) from September 2024.
When kidnappers allegedly abducted Janssen, his family alerted law enforcement. They said the kidnappers took him to Monroe County, which is about 170 miles south of his hometown of Bad Axe. A family member said two or three people were responsible for the abduction and later transported him to the Toledo area.
Afterwards, Janssen said they kept him against his will in a basement for 35 days before they took him to Michigan’s Huron County. A family friend later found his car with some cash, including a $50 bill located on the floorboard.
Longtime friend Earl McKee told The Independent that Janssen “used their friendship to ask [him] to take out multiple vehicle loans.” He later reported suspicious transactions to law enforcement and expressed some doubt that the kidnapping, which came after he lost his license to sell cars in October 2023, was actually real.
In other crime-related gaming news, police arrested three former Binion’s employees for allegedly skimming $300,000 from the Las Vegas casino. Also, a poker player killed his roommate last week in Las Vegas as part of a murder-suicide.
