ANNALS OF DeSANTISTAN: Suspended Osceola sheriff Marcos Lopez leaves jail after posting bond. (Silas Morgan, Orlando Sentinel)

Does corruption flourish under one-party rule, whether Democratic or Republican?  You tell me.  Overnight circa 1999, St. Johns County went from one-party rule by corrupt Dixiecrats under Sheriff LAWRENCCE O. DAVIS, removed by Florida's Governor and Senate in 1970 after a 31 year reign of error,  to one-party rule under Dull Republicans who favor putative "developers, "with County Commission Chair THOMAS MANUEL going to federal prison after the FBI busted him in 2008. The lessons of history are irrefragable. .On July 4, we Celebrate Independence, not fawning obeisance to Benedict Arnold  corporations.   From Orlando Sentinel: 

Suspended Osceola sheriff Marcos Lopez leaves jail after posting bond

Marcos Lopez quickly left the Lake County Jail three weeks after his arrest on racketeering charges

Suspended Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez is released from the Lake County Jail on a $1 million bond Thursday, June 26, 2025. (Spectrum News 13)

By SILAS MORGAN | smorgan@orlandosentinel.com | Orlando Sentinel

UPDATED: June 27, 2025 at 7:05 AM EDT

Suspended Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez was released from jail after posting bond Thursday evening, regaining his freedom after spending the last three weeks incarcerated on racketeering charges.

Lopez posted a $1 million bond after a judge ruled earlier in the day that the funds he would post — $100,000 or 10%  of the bond  — were proven to have come from legitimate sources and not an illegal activity, a requirement the court imposed after his arrest.

He was released around 6:30 p.m. from the Lake County Jail in Tavares. A minute-long video from WESH 2 News shows Lopez quickly being rushed into a truck while reporters surrounded him and shouted questions that he did not appear to answer. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Lopez was booked into the Lake County Jail after his shocking June 5 arrest for what authorities said was his involvement in an illegal gambling empire operating out of Osceola and Lake counties. Prosecutors say Lopez used his power as sheriff to shield the ring from accountability following his election in 2020 and made at least $600,000.

The allegations center around an illegal casino in Kissimmee called The Eclipse, part of a scheme prosecutors said generated more than $21.6 million. It was run out of a commercial building on West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway that has also been an Indian-American-pizza restaurant and hookah bar.

Suspended Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez is released from the Lake County Jail on a $1 million bond Thursday, June 26, 2025. (Spectrum News 13)

Prior to his arrest, Lopez’s deputies made numerous visits to the casino.

The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office was called to the casino more than 50 times from May 2022 until Aug. 28, according to records from the agency. Reports from the sheriff’s office show a sample of the incidents, including reported gunshots, armed disturbances and assaults inside and outside the facility, as well as an alleged attack in January 2024 by a woman working there.

But it wasn’t until Aug. 27, 2024, that deputies and federal agents raided The Eclipse, setting the stage for Lopez’s downfall. Prosecutors and the Florida Gaming Control Commission seized about $1.1 million from the owner of the casino, Krishna Deokaran, in two forfeiture cases filed after the raid, according to court records.

Lopez was suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis while his case proceeds and replaced by interim Sheriff Christopher Blackmon, the Florida Highway Patrol’s Central Florida regional chief.

He was arrested alongside three co-defendants — Carol Cote, Sharon Fedrick and Sheldon Wetherholt — all of whom have bonded out of jail. A fourth co-defendant, Ying Zhang, remains at large.

The sheriff’s estranged wife, Robin Severance-Lopez, who was arrested Monday, remains in the jail on $400,000 bond. She is charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering. Her attorney has disputed her involvement.

At a court hearing, Statewide Prosecutor Colleen Monroe, citing evidence that has yet to be publicly released, painted Severance-Lopez and her husband as playing “ministerial roles” in running the illicit business centered around The Eclipse. Monroe said Severance-Lopez had made a large bank deposit, exceeding her claimed resources, since her husband’s arrest.

Severance-Lopez’s attorney, Michelle Yard, disputed the prosecutor’s characterization, citing in part the couple’s separation in 2019 — the same year prosecutors said the alleged scheme began — while telling the judge Severance-Lopez “does not have significant financial resources.” She further noted her client has a 15-year-old child, the couple’s youngest of three, who lives with her.

“Ms. Severance-Lopez is not a co-conspirator,” Yard said. “She is a co-parent.”

 

Originally Published: June 26, 2025 at 7:15 PM EDT