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A former sheriff from Florida has been accused of racketeering and conspiracy following a probe into an illegal gambling ring.
Former Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez was taken into custody on Thursday, facing serious felony charges for allegedly embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars and misusing campaign funds to support the purported gambling operation.
“As law enforcement officials, we are expected to uphold higher standards of integrity and character compared to other jobs,” stated Mark Glass, Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. “This case has shown that Lopez broke the trust and integrity that he was expected to maintain as the elected sheriff of Osceola County.”
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Marcos Lopez appeared in court on Friday. (FOX 35)
Fox News Digital has contacted the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office for their statement on the matter.
Following his arrest, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspended Lopez and appointed Christopher Blackmon, an officer from the Florida Highway Patrol, to act as interim sheriff. Lopez had been elected in November 2020.
Lopez pleaded not guilty on Friday to the allegations and was assigned a bond of $1 million, as reported by FOX 35.
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Marcos Lopez was elected in November 2020. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
On Friday, prosecutors claimed that Lopez earned as much as $700,000 while running his illegal enterprise, which included slot machines, a lottery, and a “gambling house” operated out of a venue named the Fusion Social Club in Kissimmee.
As of Friday afternoon, Lopez remained in custody and is scheduled to appear in court again on June 30.
Lopez is set to appear in court on June 30. (Lake County Jail/FOX 35; Google Maps)
The criminal gambling operation is believed to have made over $21.6 million over the years.
Besides Lopez, four other individuals—Ying Zhang, Sharon Fedrick, Sheldon Wetherholt, and Carol Cote—are also facing similar racketeering and conspiracy charges.
Osceola County is not involved in the investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
