Retired Highway Patrol Trooper Charged With Lying to FBI about Gambling

U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Kansas
18 January 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WICHITA, KAN. – A retired highway patrol trooper was charged Thursday with lying to the FBI during an investigation into illegal gambling in Wichita, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said.

Michael Frederiksen, 52, Derby, Kan., is charged with two counts of making false statements to FBI investigators. A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Wichita alleges that in 2014, while Frederiksen was still a Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper, he was filmed taking part in an illegal cash poker game. On Feb. 23, 2017, he was interviewed by FBI agents investigating illegal gambling businesses in Wichita.

The FBI had a video of Frederiksen playing in an illegal cash poker game held Feb. 12, 2014, at 922 1/2 E. Douglas in the Old Town district of Wichita. The site was equipped with poker tables, a cabinet for valuables and poker chips, video surveillance equipment, liquor and snacks. Staff included dealers, someone serving food and a waitress serving drinks and giving massages to the players.

An undercover investigator was at the game posing as a gambler. At one point, the undercover officer tried to use his phone to take photos. The men running the game took him aside and told him he was making other players nervous. They allowed the undercover officer to continue playing, but moved the game to other locations after that night.

The FBI also knew that Fredericksen had frequent contact with one of the organizers of the poker game, identified in the charges as J.S.

During the FBI interview, Fredericksen made false statements, downplaying his involvement in illegal poker and his relationship with the operator of the poker game.

If convicted, Fredericksen faces up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count. The FBI, Wichita Police Department and the Internal Revenue Service investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron Smith and Mona Furst are prosecuting.

In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.