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SALT LAKE CITY — Four people face federal charges for allegedly running illegal poker games in locations around Salt Lake County that included food catering, paid security and outdoor surveillance cameras.
Federal agents started investigating illegal gambling establishments in the Salt Lake City area in June 2017. They staked out office buildings and relied on confidential informants for months before making arrests, according to court documents. Agents also tracked financial transactions the targets of the investigation made.
Investigators says they saw about 80 people frequenting one South Salt Lake location.
One man, Troy Udell Jensen, admitted to agents that he had been running an illegal gambling establishment for several years and that it was his primary source of income, court documents say. He made money from "chip fees" and "table rakes," or a commission collected from the pot on poker hands.
Jensen, Matthew Jameson Campbell, Andrew Jeremy Crookston and Tamara Ann Dodson were each charged with one count of illegal gambling operation. All four pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court.
