Retired Highway Patrol Trooper Sentenced For Lying to FBI about Gambling

WICHITA, KAN. – A retired highway patrol trooper was sentenced Monday to a year on federal probation for lying to the FBI during an investigation into illegal gambling in Wichita, U.S. Attorney Stephan McAllister said.

Michael Frederiksen, 53, Derby, Kan., was convicted in a jury trial in May on one count of making false statements to FBI investigators. During trial, prosecutors presented evidence 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.

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

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