Poker Game Gone Bad - Seven Years in Prison for Andre Moore

13:43
20 Nov

Andre Moore will spend at least the next seven years behind bars after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter for shooting his brother, Michigan Live reports. The 45-year-old Moore was sentenced on Monday for the fatality that took place in October of last year.

A group of men, including Moore and his brother, were at Moore's house having a few drinks and playing poker. All was apparently fun and games until Jeffrey Moore was caught cheating.

Andre got upset and kicked everyone out of his home. After the rest of the players had gone, the two brothers got into a fight. Apparently, the confrontation started after Andre caught his brother taking some of his belongings. The outcome of the fight saw older brother Jeffrey shot in the chest. Andre then dropped the gun and ran back into the house. He later turned himself in to the police.

Initially charged with open murder, Moore later agreed to plead no contest to the amended manslaughter charge, which was probably way better than he could have hoped for given the situation. During the trial, self-defense was claimed. Without any witnesses, the cops were guessing and had a hard time sorting out the evidence, which eventually resulted in the guilty plea agreement.

Liquor, card games and guns don't mix." Michael Ewing;
Attorney Michael Ewing, representing Andre Moore, claimed that his client shot his brother in self-defense. Ewing also said that Andre was walking backward, running away from his brother. A warning shot was fired, but Jeffrey continued approaching.
Judge Richard Yuille sentenced Andre Lamar Moore to 5-15 years in prison for the shooting of his brother after accepting a plea of no contest to involuntary manslaughter. The judge also sentenced Moore to a consecutive two-year sentence for possession. With these charges, Moore will spend a minimum of seven years in prison.
While some media and politicians will, no doubt, try to spin this story to show poker in a bad light, it is much easier to believe that there were already some deeply-rooted conflicts between the two brothers than to think that somebody would just shoot their own brother dead over a small stakes poker game.
Be that as it may, there is still a valuable lesson to be learned here. Although the Wild West days are far behind us, occasional gunplay still makes an appearance at the tables, so better safe than sorry.

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