Defendant Forfeits $97,600 And Pleads Guilty to Gambling Charge

WICHITA, KAN. - A Wichita man pleaded guilty today to a federal gambling charged and agreed to forfeit $97,600 derived from gambling proceeds, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said. He was sentenced today to 12 months on supervised federal probation.

Johnny Steven, 41, Wichita, Kan., pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to the unlawful transmission of wagering information. In his plea, Steven admitted he acted in cooperation with co-defendant Daven Flax, who was conducting illegal private poker games in Wichita.

Participants were notified via text messaging about the games. The texts also contained information about payments or collections of money. After games, Steven concealed the involvement of Flax and others by hiding handwritten ledgers or computerized records detailing gambling credits, earnings and obligations of the gambling business.

McAllister commended the FBI, the Wichita Police Department, the Internal Revenue Service, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Furst and Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Smith for their work on the case.