Two years before he became Osceola County sheriff, Marcos Lopez joined the gambling business, a venture that started when he introduced a veteran of illegal casinos to a Chinese-born realtor with money to invest, according to a newly released affidavit.
That deal netted him thousands of dollars, but in September 2019, he had to reassure the woman from China there was no danger of being caught, the record shows.
“Kate, nothing to worry. No matter what the outcome is, when I win we start the first internet amusement cafe in Osceola County,” Lopez wrote in a text message. “You will be safe and not have to worry about anything because I will be your sheriff.”
Lopez, who police say was by then involved in illegal gambling rooms in Marion and Sumter counties, would go on to win the sheriff’s job in 2020, the first Hispanic in Osceola elected to that position. An illegal casino would open in Osceola in 2022, protected by Lopez, who convinced his partners to open in his jurisdiction, the records show.
The 2019 arrangement kicked off what prosecutors described as a multi-county illegal gambling empire that generated about $21.6 million, according to a 255-page affidavit the Orlando Sentinel obtained Friday evening from the Office of Statewide Prosecution, which is leading the criminal case against Lopez and other co-conspirators.
The business collapsed when Lopez and others were arrested June 5. Lopez was then suspended from office, replaced by Sheriff Christopher Blackmon, previously a Central Florida regional chief at Florida Highway Patrol.
The document details Lopez’s role in the gambling enterprise, for which he sought political contributions and personal payments in exchange for using his position as sheriff to protect it from scrutiny. The highly-anticipated affidavit had been sealed, with prosecutors offering few details about the scheme beyond the existence of The Eclipse, the illegal casino in Kissimmee they said was protected by Lopez.
The casino was shutdown after a multi-agency raid in August 2024. The investigation into that operation led to Lopez’s arrest and ensnared five others: Sheldon Wetherholt; Robin Severance-Lopez, Lopez’s estranged wife; Sharon Fedrick; Carol Cote; and Ying Zhang, the Orlando-based realtor who former employees say went by “Kate” and has since fled to China to evade prosecution.
Lopez, his wife and the others have all pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering.
The affidavit describes Krishna Deokaran, who owned The Eclipse and other casinos in Lake County, as the kingpin of the operation — a man who investigators said had about $1 million in $100 bills in a bag in his car when they investigated him last year. He has not been charged with a crime, however, though prosecutors named him as a co-conspirator in court hearings, and he had to relinquish nearly $1 million in forfeiture cases filed in Osceola and Orange counties following raids at the casinos.
Lopez’s alleged role as an partner in the enterprise and later a protector of The Eclipse ultimately earned him at least $600,000, prosecutors say.
After he was elected sheriff, Lopez urged Deokaran to set up an casino in his jurisdiction in Osceola, the documents show. In November 2021, Deokaran sent Lopez a screenshot of a potential location, to which Lopez replied, “Hey bud that may be in the city of Kissimmee,” the affidavit said.
“Deokaran’s interpretation was that the location was not in his jurisdiction, thus Sheriff Marcos R. Lopez could not protect him there,” according to the affidavit. “Krishna Deokaran said he felt pressured to find potential store locations in Osceola County jurisdiction from Sheriff Marcos R. Lopez.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
