Ex-cop who outed undercover Wichita officer at illegal poker game loses certification
A former police officer who outed an undercover cop investigating illegal gambling that involved a prominent Wichita business family can no longer work in law enforcement in the state — though he won’t have to spend any time in prison or on probation.
A state oversight board revoked the law enforcement certification of Michael Zajkowski after he was convicted of a felony. The crime was in connection to the Federal Bureau of Investigation case that also implicated two brothers in the Steven family, among several other defendants.
Zajkowski can no longer work in law enforcement in the state after the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training revoked his certification. He was a full-time officer with the Wichita Police Department from January 1991 to April 2017.
Zajkowski “lacks the personal qualities of integrity, honesty, upholding the laws of the state, conduct that warrants the public trust, and upholding the oath required for certification,” commissioners wrote in the revocation order.
A copy of the order, dated Sept. 27, was released to The Eagle in response to a Kansas Open Records Act request.
Zajkowski was one of three former law enforcement officers charged by federal prosecutors after an FBI investigation into illegal gambling.
He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in April to misprision of a felony, which is when someone knows about the commission of a felony crime and fails to report it.
Zajkowski admitted in his plea that he tried to determine if an undercover WPD officer had infiltrated an illegal, private poker game in February 2014. Prosecutors had alleged that he used police resources to determine the undercover officer’s car was registered to the city and in service to the police department, then provided that information to gambling organizers.
In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped an additional charge of obstructing law enforcement. The plea deal recommended a sentence of one year of probation. The maximum penalty was three years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, a year of supervised release and a $100 special assessment.
Judge Eric Melgren in August ordered Zajkowski to pay the $100, but a fine was waived and he was not ordered to spend any time in prison or on probation. The sentence was “time served,” which means he was credited with the time spent in remand while awaiting adjudication. He had been released on a $5,000 bond and required to follow conditions ordered by the court for more than a year.
Other Kansas cops
The investigation also led to convictions of two other cops — a former WPD officer and a former KHP trooper — though one of the convictions has since been tossed.
Last month, Melgren vacated retired Kansas Highway Patrol trooper Michael Frederiksen’s conviction for lying to the FBI on the grounds that his attorney was ineffective. Frederiksen, of Derby, had been sentenced to a year of probation.
The case was dismissed earlier this month at the request of federal prosecutors.
Former Wichita police officer Bruce Mackey pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony in August 2018. Prosecutors said Mackey also outed the undercover cop at the illegal poker game.
In a separate case, Mackey pleaded guilty to several state crimes in Sedgwick County District Court after a July 2018 domestic violence incident at his Goddard home. He was convicted of felony criminal threat and two misdemeanor counts of domestic violence battery. He was sentenced in September 2019 to a year of probation.
KSCPOST revoked Mackey’s peace officer certification last year. No action has been taken on Frederiksen’s license.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 8:21 PM.