A Wichita businessman has pleaded guilty in federal court to a gambling charge and he has agreed to forfeit $97,600 from gambling proceeds.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said 41-year-old Johnny Steven pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to the unlawful transmission of wagering information. He admitted acting in cooperation with co-defendant Daven Flax, who was conducting illegal private poker games in Wichita.
Prosecutors said participants were notified by text messages about the games, and the texts also had information about payments or collections of money. They said after the games, Steven concealed the involvement of Flax and others by hiding handwritten ledgers or computerized records of gambling credits, earnings and obligations of the gambling operation.
Steven was sentenced to 12 months of supervised federal probation.
