The attorney who filed the complaint on behalf of John Doe in his lawsuit against DraftKings may very well be John Doe himself.
Steven Jacobs, the attorney listed on the complaint, is currently involved in litigation pending appeal with a man named as one of his extorters in the suit, Oscar Jones.
Jacobs currently involved in suit with Oscar Jones
Jones filed a lawsuit against Jacobs in a New York court in April 2023 alleging that Jacobs defrauded him out of nearly $500,000–the same amount Doe was alleged to owe in the DraftKings complaint.
Court documents in the suit established Jacobs’s home address in Long Island City and his law firm’s address, which is on Lexington Ave. Both of these sync with details provided by John Doe in his DraftKings suit.
According to Jones, he and Jacobs agreed to a deal where Jones would fund Jacobs’s DraftKings account and they would share in the betting proceeds. Jones claimed he sent Jacobs over $82,000 to deposit and is also owed almost $14,000 in money obtained through DraftKings bonuses and shared profits of nearly $350,000.
Jones believed he would be getting paid once Jacobs successfully withdrew $200,000. However, Jacobs allegedly told Jones that DraftKings suspended his account and refused to pay him unless he signed an affidavit of eligibility, which he was unwilling to do.
In his claim, Jones alleged that Jacobs was rumored to be asking around about what that form looked like so he could produce a forgery to provide Jones. Jones believed no such form was ever sent and Jacobs was able to successfully withdraw from DraftKings.
Jacobs allegedly claims DraftKings refused withdrawal
Jones next asked for Jacobs to file a complaint with the New York Gaming Commission (NYGC). Jacobs agreed to but not before Jones signed an agreement releasing Jacobs from liability. After some back and forth on wording, Jones signed the initial agreement.
In his complaint, Jones included a forwarded email from Jacobs that verified he submitted a complaint with the NYGC, but when Jones later communicated with the regulator, they had no record of the case. Jones obtained an email sent by Jacobs to the NYGC four minutes after sending the complaint asking the NYGC to ignore the complaint, as it was sent by accident:
“Dear Gaming Commission,
With sincere apologies, the email/attachment below was accidental, and was not meant to be sent to you. I am a gaming lawyer and I drafted it for a gaming training module. It is not a real complaint. I meant to include your email address in the document but not to send it to you. Please ignore and delete the email attachment. I apologize again.”
As the days passed and Jones allegedly continued to inquire about the complaint with no updates, the two began exchanging text messages during which Jacobs allegedly warned Jones he was fully protected against a lawsuit from him and warned that if Jones pushed the issue and sued, “I will push u into bankruptcy.”
Jones claimed he felt backed into a corner when Jacobs asked him to sign a second agreement vowing not to take legal action against him. He nonetheless signed a document that would prove crucial in the case.
Kyrollos aka “Spanky” not named in Jones suit
Jones eventually did file a lawsuit, prompting what he claimed was a series of texts sent in a group chat between Jones, Jacobs, and an unnamed partner.
“I would strongly advise you to get Oscar to back off from his frivolous and psychotic litigation tactics. His sole goal of destroying my career is illegal, and if he goes through with it your name, business and betting tactics will inevitably be plastered all over the NY Courts system. It will be disastrous for all parties,” Jacobs is said to have written.
“If this goes forward, I will be alerting every sportsbook in every state about your illegal operation,” he added. He went on to, per Jones, threaten to contact the FBI as well as reveal their illicit activities to their families.
While the partner is not named in the suit against Jacobs, in the John Doe suit, Doe alleged that Jones is a known associate of Gadoon “Spanky” Kyrollos and that the two repeatedly threatened him.
Jones argued in his suit that because Jacobs acted fraudulently, he was allowed to sue seeking damages and restitution. New York Judge Mary V. Rosado disagreed. She granted Jacobs’s motion to dismiss and ruled that Jones is required to pay Jacobs’s attorney fees as well as $250,000 for violating the agreement he signed not to pursue legal action against him.
Jones has appealed the ruling and that appeal is still ongoing.
Jacobs offered no comment to SBC Americas on the matter.
