Why Murder Charges Were Briefly Dropped Against Online Poker Pro Craig Bergeron
The murder case against well-known online poker pro Craig Bergeron took an unexpected turn last week when the charges in the state of Michigan were dropped, but only briefly.
Bergeron, 34 at the time, was arrested in Dec. 2024 for allegedly fatally shooting a Detroit man before fleeing the scene in his white SUV. He's been housed at the Wayne County Jail without bond while awaiting trial. But he almost experienced freedom recently due to a near-lucky break, PokerNews learned upon contacting the prosecuting attorney's office.
Poker Pro's Charges Momentarily Dropped
Maria Miller, Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor, said all charges, including premeditated murder and being in possession of a firearm as a prohibited person, were dropped on Sept. 11 during a 36th District Court hearing.
Judge Shawn Jacque ordered all charges be dropped and the case dismissed due to the officer-in-charge being "unable to locate a necessary witness." The witness was contacted the following day, and the charges were reissued. Bergeron was arraigned on the reissued warrant on Tuesday morning and remanded to jail.
Bergeron is suspected of having fatally shot Tommy "Mike" Ireland, 37, on Detroit's east side a few days before Christmas 2024. Police were dispatched to the crime scene after the shooting, where they discovered the victim unresponsive.
"It’s chaos out here. It’s chaos. Nobody should go through burying anybody, especially off of senseless crime — senseless," Richard Castro, Ireland's cousin, told 7 News Detroit following the shooting. "It’s senseless man. When I say Tommy was a good man, he was a good man, bro. He wasn’t one of them. He was one of the other ones."
Ashley Ireland, the victim's sister, told reporters that the family doesn't know Bergeron. The alleged murderer, who is from Saline, Michigan, is said to have assaulted someone else before being arrested. Some reports have speculated that Bergeron was in a state of psychosis on the day of the shooting. He has received multiple mental health evaluations since his arrest, but the test results are unknown.
Bergeron was once an accomplished poker pro, rising up through the stakes in his early 20s. He was a hybrid online-live grinder with $1.3 million in live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob. That includes a career-best $312,853 score for a fourth-place finish in the 2010 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Deauville Main Event.
He won an EPT side event in Germany for $158,062 in 2009 when he was just 19 years old. PokerNews interviewed the young poker pro earlier that year during an Aussie Millions event.
Bergeron, who also had great success online under the screenname "HU4ROLLZ," has one World Series of Poker (WSOP) final table appearance and a World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) ring. He hasn't cashed in any live events since 2019.
A probable cause conference for the reissued charges is scheduled for Sept. 25, and a preliminary exam is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 2.
