CASPER — A 32-year-old Gillette woman was in Casper Circuit Court Thursday to face a criminal charge in connection with an alleged gambling operation conducted at cafes in Casper and Gillette, as well as a store vaping shop in Mills, Wyoming.

Hannelore Sue Tolliver is charged with conspiracy to commit professional gambling stemming from operations conducted from January 1, 2020 to January 2024 in Natrona County.

His arrest comes after his former boss, Scott Schroefel, 54, was also arrested earlier this month and appeared in court Oct. 15, according to court records.

Schroefel faces a professional gambling charge. The charges against him and Tolliver are felonies.

Court records show that in June 2023, a woman complained to the Wyoming Gaming Commission about activities at Mocha Moose at 855 CY Ave. in Casper. She said her son won about $7,000 playing the online game Las Vegas Sweeps and the store refused to pay.

The woman told the commission the operation involved customers walking up to the Mocha Moose counter and asking for a code that would be used to play online after the customer gave the cafe attendant money.

“Only people known to the employee or recommended/referred by another regular customer could purchase/receive the codes,” the court affidavit states.

Double Diamond Vapors at 4721 W. Yellowstone in Mills also conducted the same activity, according to the affidavit.

Investigation

Special agents with the Wyoming Gaming Commission began an investigation, during which a confidential informant told an agent that the gaming operations at the stores were owned by Schroefel, a Casper resident.

Customers who came to Mocha Moose either opened a new account or placed money into an existing account.

The affidavit states that customers could choose from several games available on a website. If customers won, they would return to the Mocha Moose to pay.

“Schroefel told Mocha Moose employees that gambling activities at the business were illegal,” the affidavit states. “The only reason law enforcement didn’t act was because Schroefel held raffles for charity.”

A special agent check with the City of Casper in June 2023 showed there was no active business license for the Mocha Moose. In February, a special agent was informed by a property manager that the business was originally leased in 2005 under the name Rocky Mountain Empire Developers.

Agents with the Wyoming Gaming Commission and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation executed a search warrant at the Mocha Moose on Jan. 14, while Schroefel and a confidential source were in the store. Agents seized:

• Document detailing each store location in Casper and Gillette with dollar amounts and months.

• Bags of cash containing $5,008 worth of U.S. currency, including marked currency from a secret purchase by Wyoming Gaming Commission agents.

• Schroefel’s cell phone.

• $1,724 in cash Schroefel had on him.

• Handwritten documents and notes with password and login information for several illegal online gambling platforms such as Fire Kirin, River Sweeps, Blue Dragon, River Dragon, Red Dragon, Vegas Strip and Juwa.

Weekly texts

When officers seized the phone, they found text messages between Schroefel and Tolliver, employed as Schroefel’s manager at Huff N Puff, later renamed Hole in the Wall Coffee and Bingo Hall located in Gillette.

An arrest affidavit states that between 2019 and 2023, Tolliver texted Schroefel twice a week about business operations.

One conversation contained in the affidavit involved a March 18, 2023, visit by Wyoming Gaming Commission agents to the Gillette location after Schroefel applied for a bingo license.

Schroefel asked Tolliver why she added new accounts, and she said no, just old clients.

“We have been very careful in only using the term raffle tickets, etc.,” Tolliver texted Schroefel.

Schroefel texted him saying it was the Horse Palace “that narcissist.”

“Yes, we try as hard as possible to be very discreet, it’s so hard because we’re a small town and everyone talks here,” Tolliver responded.

On Dec. 21, 2023, a special agent made a secret purchase of an online gaming account from Tolliver, according to the affidavit. They then played on the Natrona County online account.

In January 2024, special agents received a search warrant for a search of Facebook content and further confirmed that Tolliver had conducted suspected illegal gambling operations for Schroefel. The affidavit states that between June 2023 and January 2023, Tolliver created or loaded money into 19 illegal gaming accounts.

In two interviews with Tolliver, she told agents that Schroefel was the owner of the illegal gambling platforms and that she was an employee who sold gambling credits online.

She delivered

She said that in 2020, when Schroefel closed an account at American National Bank in Gillette, she drove to Casper every Monday for two years to deliver between $8,000 and $10,000.

“Schroefel paid Hannelore Tolliver $200 per trip to deliver money to Schroefel,” the affidavit states. “Hannelore Tolliver would collect cigarettes for the Gillette store when needed. Coffee and cigarette sales were about $100 a week.

Court records involving Schroefel’s charge show he “interacted” with an undercover agent who purchased credits for an illegal gambling platform from Schroefel on September 6, 2023. The agents placed $110 into the Vega account Strip.

“This money was used for gambling and was subsequently lost from the account,” the affidavit states. “The Vega Strip app has been identified as an unregulated online casino game offering multiple card and slot games.”

The affidavit also shows that agents obtained a search warrant for bank accounts held at American National Bank and found a document from the bank containing the reason his account was closed.

The bank wrote that Schroefel has an “unreliable source of repayment due to income derived from business practices that are illegal under federal law,” the affidavit states.

Court records show Schroefel will face a preliminary hearing on his charge on Oct. 31. His bond was set at $2,500.

Tolliver told Judge Brian Christensen that she was going to school to study early childhood education. She was given a $10,000 personal bond.

The conspiracy to commit professional gambling charge against Tolliver and the professional gambling charge against Schroefel are punishable by up to three years in prison and a $3,000 fine.

Dale Killingbeck can be reached at [email protected].