A Los Angeles, California, man who characterized himself as a bitcoin billionaire before launching a Jackson Hole-area spending spree that landed him in jail on fraud charges has skipped court and is wanted in all 50 states.
Kevin Segal, 30, is facing up to 141.5 years in prison on claims he cheated large and small Teton County businesses out of nearly $212,000.
He begged Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens to let him out of jail earlier this year, and Owens refused.
Segal then turned to a friend he made while in Jackson Hole, Jason Irvine, who spoke with Cowboy State Daily on Friday.
“He explained the situation and was basically denying all the charges written in the newspaper, and said it was libel and slander; and he didn’t intend to defraud anybody,” Irvine recalled from his talks with Segal. “He was locked up in jail, and (said) that’s why he couldn’t pay anybody off.”
Irvine recalled what he characterized as Segal’s insistence: that if he could just get out of jail, he could access his ample savings and set the situation right.
Segal’s bond was set at $50,000 cash-only. He promised Irvine a hefty bitcoin payout roughly equating to a half-million dollars, if Irvine would post the bond, the latter said.
But besides the promise of compensation, they were friends, said Irvine. He’d also spoken at length to one of Segal’s family members, who “half vouched” for Segal, he said in retrospect, and who told him he was doing “the Lord’s work” by bonding the man out of jail.
Irvine maxed out three credit cards to post the bond amount, he said.
Bye
Segal got out of jail on Feb. 14, but under a strict court order to turn in his passport to the Teton County Sheriff’s Office.
Around that time, Owens reassigned the case to Park County District Court Judge Bill Simpson, who oversees it now.
Simpson noted that Segal never handed in his passport. So the judge set a Wednesday conference hearing at which Segal was to appear by virtual link and explain why he hadn’t followed the court’s order.
Segal never showed, according to a later filing by Simpson.
At the request of Teton County Deputy Attorney Andrew Hardenbrook, the judge forfeited the $50,000 bond.
Simpson also issued a 50-states bench warrant for Segal’s arrest. This time, Segal will be held on a $750,000 cash-only bond if and when he’s captured, says the judge’s order.
The warrant describes Segal as a white male born in 1994, standing five-foot-seven, weighing 150 pounds, and having black hair and brown eyes. His address is in Los Angeles, California.
At midday Friday, Irvine was looking at his options for filing bankruptcy. He said he hopes Segal can be caught so he stands a chance of getting his money back. And he recalled an angry text he sent to the man, which he related as saying: “You really screwed me over, and now I really don’t believe anything you say anymore. You’re a sociopath and a con man, and you’re going to get what you deserve.”
When Cowboy State Daily tried to contact Segal on the phone number Irvine provided, the line did not work. Segal’s cellphone number as listed in court documents didn’t work either, as of midday Friday.
Not Caught Yet
Authorities hadn’t caught Segal as of Friday morning, Teton County Sheriff’s Sgt. John Faicco told Cowboy State Daily.
“We don’t know his exact whereabouts right now,” said Faicco. He said the dissemination of Segal’s booking photo may help people identify if he were still in the area, but he also has ties to California and to the Philippines, Faicco said.
“We want to bring him back here so we can have some type of restitution for all of our local victims – because there were a lot of people, besides bigger companies, that have been affected,” the sergeant added.
Court documents list car dealerships, resorts, a grocery-delivery service, a courier and others as those impacted.
Faicco credited Teton County Sheriff’s Detective Adam Rainey with “a fantastic job investigating this case.”
Because Of The Brand-New Truck
The Teton County Sheriff’s Office started investigating Segal in March of 2024 because of a report from the Rocky Mountain Yeti car dealership in Jackson, Wyoming, that Segal had agreed to wire $159,427 for a 2024 Dodge Ram 3500 pickup, but the wire didn’t go through.
A staffer of the dealership tried following up with Segal, who then cut a check to the dealership, says an affidavit Rainey compiled for the case.
The check didn’t clear either, the document says.
Teton County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jesse Willcox tried tracking Segal down. He’d been staying at the Caldera House but had checked out March 21 — six days after he took possession of the pickup, the affidavit says. Another part of the document claims Segal “snuck out the back” without paying.
The affidavit says that when Willcox called Caldera House, he learned that not only had Segal checked out, but he’d left without paying his outstanding guest bill and bar tab totaling $14,870.30.
Willcox had had a “law enforcement related contact” with Segal prior at a rental property on the Spring Creek Ranch earlier that month, so he reached out to Spring Creek management to find the man – only to find that Segal was no longer a guest there either, the affidavit says.
A warrant was issued for the man’s arrest March 28, 2024.
Bar Tabs And Resort Stays
Rainey took over the case since there were questions of other, “fraudulent acts” that surfaced during Willcox’s search for Segal, the detective wrote.
“As I investigated the case I discovered that Segal had committed several felony fraudulent activities and had falsely represented himself as a Bitcoin billionaire in order to help carry out his scheme of deception,” Rainey added.
The alleged billionaire persona deceived upscale businesses and smaller courier operations alike, the document claims.
From Jan. 31-Feb. 2 Segal stayed at the Amangani resort with his mother and a friend, racking up a $2,725.76 bill that went unpaid when the credit card he placed was found to be fraudulent, Rainey wrote.
At Spring Creek Ranch, three cards meant to pay bills of $16,509.60 and $5,728.80 also turned up fraudulent, says the document.
Segal kept a tab at the Mangy Moose in Teton Village and racked up a $3,055.28 bill that went unpaid, Rainey added.
Drones And Deliveries
The document says Segal had a man pick up a DJI drone for him. The man was to buy the drone in Colorado, and Segal would reimburse him for that, it adds.
Segal cut the man a check for the drone, of $3,281.46, and that failed to clear, Rainey wrote.
On March 27, about 12 days after Segal took possession of the Dodge truck, authorities used the truck’s GPS system to track him down – to his home in Redondo Beach, California, the document says.
The Redondo Beach Police Department took possession of the truck. Later they arrested him.
The Rocky Mountain Yeti dealership told investigators it took a $27,100 loss on the truck, including its off-lot depreciation and the costs of recovering it.
The Delivery Man
The document says Segal sent a delivery man to drive the Dodge Ram to Los Angeles. The delivery man and his son drove the pickup from Jackson to Los Angeles “nonstop,” then went to the airport to take their return flight to Jackson – since Segal had promised them he’d buy their homebound tickets, says the affidavit.
The men learned at the airport that Segal hadn’t bought them any plane tickets. They checked into a hotel room amid Segal’s recurring promises he’d take care of the issue, the affidavit says.
When Segal didn’t take care of the issue, the deliver men bought plane tickets home out of his own pocket, Rainey wrote.
The man sent Segal a bill for $3,101 for the drive, fuel, airline tickets, hotel and other trip expenses. On March 27, Segal sent the man a screenshot of a wire transfer, but no wire transfer ever went through, the document says.
The Grocery Gal
A woman who delivers groceries for people in Teton County said Segal also used her services, but his credit card charges were cancelled. That total was $441.25, the document says.
The affidavit’s tally for all the charges that Segal is accused of not paying at various Teton County businesses is as follows:
• Amangani $2,725.76
• Spring creek ranch $24,905.28
• Grocery service $441.25
• Mangy Moose $3,055.28
• Rocky Mountain Yeti Auto $159,427.04
• Drone Delivery Man $3,281.46
• Wyoming Department of Transportation $45
• Caldera House $14,870.3
• Pickup Delivery Man $3,101
• These figures total $211,852.37.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
