From lovebirds to jailbirds.
The spouse of a Florida county sheriff accused of serving to run an enormous playing operation joined her husband behind bars on Monday on related fees.
Homeland Safety Investigations arrested Robin Severance-Lopez, the estranged spouse of Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez, on state fees for conspiracy to commit racketeering, HSI Tampa introduced.
Lopez’s arrest got here weeks after her husband was nabbed and slapped with felony racketeering fees for his alleged function in a sprawling playing operation in and across the house area of Walt Disney World.
Lopez protected the operation in trade for private funds and marketing campaign contributions, state prosecutors contend.
Authorities didn’t reveal additional particulars about Severance-Lopez’s alleged involvement in her husband’s scheme.
As for the sheriff himself, Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Lopez in an government order and appointed a Florida Freeway Patrol official to be the county’s sheriff.
The operation, which concerned 4 different defendants, ran a lottery, slot machines and a “playing home” out of a enterprise often called Fusion Social Membership in a tourist-heavy space of Kissimmee, Florida, in line with court docket paperwork.
The group took in additional than $21.6 million in illicit proceeds, authorities mentioned.
“As regulation enforcement, we’re held to greater requirements of integrity and character than different professions,” Florida Division of Legislation Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass mentioned in an announcement. “This case revealed that Lopez violated the belief and integrity anticipated of him because the duly elected sheriff of Osceola County.”
An inquiry despatched to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Workplace wasn’t initially answered.
County Supervisor Don Fisher mentioned in an announcement that the county performed no function within the investigation and that county officers had been ready to help the interim sheriff.
In December, Lopez pleaded no contest to violating state information legal guidelines and agreed to pay a $250 superb for posting on-line a picture of the physique of 13-year-old Madeline Soto.
The boyfriend of the woman’s mom has been charged together with her dying.
