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

Johnny Steven, 41, Wichita, 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.