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Murphys Hotel Owner Freed of Misdemeanor

A hotel owner and two of his employees have been cleared of illegal gambling charges in California Sept. 27.

Dorian Faught along with two workers in his Murphys Hotel, John Reeseman and Brian Goss, were declared free of charges after being arrested in August following a two-month undercover probe by state agents.

According to District Attorney Jeff Tuttle, the men were previously warned that anyone conducting future poker games without a license would be arrested.

"We won't look on it so tolerantly," he said. The three had been issued citations and faced $10,000 in fines and a year in county jail should they be convicted of the misdemeanor charge.

Tuttle said that it was common practice for his office to warn people in license cases to "refrain from the unlicensed action."

"I really never felt like a criminal," Faught said. He added: "I'm thrilled."

Faught gained celebrity status after the blow by blow sting on the hotel guests by agents connected with the Division of Gambling Control. Local people became infuriated on what they thought was a poker game blown out of proportion by state officials.

According to Faught, he was only playing a friendly Texas Hold'em game with some friends when more than a dozen police officials barged in on their game being held at the hotel and issued citations. Two of these "friends" were undercover agents posing as poker players.