Postle Tries to Evade Service of Lawsuit in Nevada Case
A familiar pattern emerges with every move from Mike Postle. It seems he intends to hide from the lawsuits against him, perhaps in the hopes they will all disappear.
His latest attempt to evade service, this time in the civil case initiated by Marle Cordeiro last month, only delayed the inevitable by a few weeks. When Cordeiro’s attorney filed a motion for alternative service, the judge granted it. Postle should have those papers in his hands as of this week, as they were delivered to his home yesterday.
Trying to hide from the law rarely ends well.
Second Lawsuit Reminder
It can be difficult to keep up with the numerous legal updates involving Mike Postle. The first lawsuit against him – that one with nearly 90 plaintiffs in the US District Court in the Eastern District of California – started back in October 2019. The judge in that case heard oral arguments on Monday of this week regarding motions to dismiss from the defendants.
The second lawsuit against Postle took shape on April 4 when Cordeiro’s attorney, Mac VerStandig, filed a case in the US District Court in the District of Nevada.
Cordeiro’s complaint alleged that Postle engaged in a “pattern and practice of using one or more wire communications mechanisms to defraud his opponents by gaining knowledge of their hole cards during the play of poker hands.” Put simply, he cheated.
She claimed that Postle lured her to play poker games in which Cordeiro lost thousands of dollars. The counts detailed in her lawsuit are:
–1. RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) violation for racketeering
–2. Fraud for falsely claiming to be an honest participant in a poker game
–3. Negligent misrepresentation for claiming games at Stones Gambling Hall were honest
–4. Negligence per se for devising a scheme to defraud using wire communications
–5. Negligence per se for violating California law declaring cheating at a gambling game to be unlawful
Cordeiro wants an amount equal to three times the damages for the first count, damages of $250K for the second count, and an amount equal to damages for the third through fifth counts…and all “other just and proper relief.”
Postle Hiding in Plain Sight
The court issued a summons for the civil action on April 6 to Postle as the defendant. But three weeks later, VerStandig informed the court that Postle evaded the summons, and he filed a motion for alternative service.
That motion detailed how Postle avoided nine visits by a process server and ignored four emails and a Twitter message from VerStandig. His mother did respond to an email, saying she would ask her son to check his email and wishing VerStandig a blessed Easter.
If this sounds familiar, it is. Postle did the same thing in the California case, going so far as to hide in his home as VerStandig attempted numerous times to serve the papers to that home. In the end, however, Postle was forced to accept the summons.
In this case, Cordeiro requested the ability to serve Postle by alternative means. On May 18, Judge Elayna Youchah ordered that the plaintiff may serve Postle with a trackable overnight FedEx delivery, emails to all known addresses, and a Twitter direct message.
VerStandig did send that notice on May 18, and FedEx confirmed its delivery on May 19.
With that, Postle now has 21 days (from May 20) to respond with an answer to the complaint or a motion.
Delaying the Inevitable
There is no clear reason for Postle to avoid the summons, except that he has no attorney or way to defend himself.
He has chosen to represent himself in the California case, though even that is in question as his documents seemed to be ghostwritten by an attorney. And there is a motion for sanctions against Postle in that matter.
When he participated in this week’s hearing in the California matter, he did so pro se and said virtually nothing to defend himself or to support his motion to dismiss the case.
Postle’s behavior in no way determines his guilt or innocence in either matter. However, his lack of cooperation certainly won’t win any favor, only prolong the inevitable.
