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Estranged wife of disgraced Florida sheriff, is accused of helping ex to launder illicit millions in proceeds of illegal gambling, charged with racketeering

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-4642ab1191c07a2152c0c2f5ca2ef18e" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;2e1f1f&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong>Estranged wife of a Florida sheriff allegedly at the center of an illegal gambling empire has been accused of being a co-conspirator in the illicit enterprise <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2939d68459e5c9812534123091bbd01b" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;2e1f1f&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong>Robin Lynn Severance Lopez&comma; 50&comma; was arrested Monday for her alleged role helping to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars in gambling profits <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-632172c943efb834ebe0d9c4a4fa42ab" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;2e1f1f&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong><strong>Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez&comma; 55&comma; was arrested on June 5&comma; allegedly for orchestrating an illegal gambling ring that raked in over &dollar;21&period;6 million in illicit profits <&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-f1c9c2d98e68c2cf567e897399063121" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;2e1f1f&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong>Though Robin has been estranged from her husband&comma;<strong> with whom she co-parents their teen daughter &&num;8211&semi; their divorce has been pending since 2023 <&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-9fe9e1d69552e54f02f13b53a7463329" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;2e1f1f&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong><strong>Her husband a Florida sheriff&comma; is accused of using his badge to protect a sprawling illegal gambling empire since 2019&comma; prosecutors allege the former couple both profited from the gambling venture <&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-000e36780651b079ee20afb776053040" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;2e1f1f&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong><strong>Marcos Lopez&comma; charged with first-degree racketeering and first-degree conspiracy to commit racketeering&comma; is held without bond at the Lake County Jail <&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-3c07f61c2460d16f7dd732dfd493905e" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;2e1f1f&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong><strong><strong>Robin Lynn Severance Lopez<&sol;strong> was booked into jail on a &dollar;400&comma;000 bond and charged with conspiracy to invest proceeds from racketeering<&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;06&sol;Robin-Lynn-Severance-Lopez-1&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-480886" style&equals;"width&colon;827px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>Robin Lynn Severance Lopez &lbrack;photo&rsqb;&comma;the estranged wife of Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez&comma; accused of using his badge to protect a sprawling illegal gambling empire&comma; has been accused of laundering hundreds of thousands of dollars in dirty money<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The estranged wife of a Florida sheriff allegedly at the center of an illegal gambling empire has been arrested and accused of helping to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars in dirty money&comma; despite a six-year separation&period;<br>On Monday&comma; three weeks after the initial arrest of her police officer ex&comma; Robin Lynn Severance Lopez&comma; 50&comma; was swept up in the growing scandal&period;<br>Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez was arrested on June 5&comma; accused of orchestrating an illegal gambling ring that raked in over &dollar;21&period;6 million in illicit takings&comma; prosecutors said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;06&sol;Marcos-Lopez-2&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-480887" style&equals;"width&colon;829px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez &lbrack;photo&rsqb;&comma; was arrested June 5&comma; accused of orchestrating a massive illegal gambling ring that prosecutors with profits of more than &dollar;21&period;6 million&comma; prosecutors allege<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The 55-year-old cop is facing two first-degree felony charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering&period; He has since been held without bond at the Lake County Jail&period;<br><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fox35orlando&period;com&sol;news&sol;wife-suspended-osceola-county-sheriff-appear-court-tuesday">Booked into jail <&sol;a>on a &dollar;400&comma;000 bond and charged with conspiracy to invest proceeds from racketeering&comma; Robin Lopez making her first court appearance on Tuesday&comma; appeared stunned when the judge denied her attorney&&num;8217&semi;s request she be released on bond of &dollar;50&comma;000&period;<br>With her defense attorney&comma; Michelle Yard&comma; arguing there&&num;8217&semi;s no evidence her client benefited from her estranged husband&&num;8217&semi;s actions or received any illegal funds from him&comma; the judge denied the request of a lower bond&comma; with the prosecution arguing that there is the need to verify that bail bond funding is coming from legitimate sources&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;06&sol;Robin-Lynn-Severance-Lopez-5&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-480893" style&equals;"width&colon;840px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>Robin Lopez appears visibly stunned &lbrack;photo&rsqb;&comma; as a<strong> judge denied her attorney&&num;8217&semi;s request of a &dollar;50&comma;000 bond<&sol;strong>&period; The state argued that a higher bond was necessary to ensure her appearance at future hearings and institute verification that bail funds come from legitimate sources<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Robin Lopez has been accused of playing a direct role in aiding her husband in the illegal gambling operation&period; The former couple both profited from the criminal enterprise prosecutors allege&comma; despite reportedly being separated since 2019&comma; with a pending divorce case in Brevard County&period; <br>The state claimed &&num;8216&semi;she helped to facilitate the movement of illicit money and receipt of illicit payments from other co-conspirators to Lopez&comma; which is believed to have reached to be at least &dollar;600 to &dollar;700&comma;000&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>Although Robin claimed to earn just &dollar;1&comma;300 a month from a part-time job&comma; investigators reportedly found &dollar;123&comma;000 in her bank account&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;She has meaningful financial resources&comma; which interestingly&comma; cannot be explained by a legitimate employment or a business source based on law enforcement&&num;8217&semi;s review of her bank records and other filings&comma;&&num;8217&semi; state prosecutor Colleen Monroe said&comma; as reported by <a class&equals;"" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;mynews13&period;com&sol;fl&sol;orlando&sol;news&sol;2025&sol;06&sol;24&sol;bond-set--400-000-marcos-lopez-s-estranged-wife" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener">Spectrum News 13<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;06&sol;Robin-Lynn-Severance-Lopez-arrest-3&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-480889" style&equals;"width&colon;839px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>Robin Lopez was arrested Monday&comma; June 23&comma; after prosecutors claimed she &&num;8216&semi;helped to facilitate the movement of illicit money and receipt of illicit payments from other co-conspirators to &lbrack;Marcos&rsqb; Lopez&comma; which is believed to have reached to be at least &dollar;600 to &dollar;700&comma;000&&num;8217&semi; <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The state also highlighted bank slips found during her arrest&comma; showing nearly &dollar;180&comma;000 in deposits made shortly after Marcos Lopez was arrested on June 5&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;Since the beginning of this conspiracy &&num;8211&semi; through even today&&num;8217&semi;s date &&num;8211&semi; the defendant has had access to large amounts of cash&comma; including deposits&comma; withdrawals and acquisitions that far exceed her legitimate employment&comma; business&comma; or retirement income&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Monroe added&period; <br>Robin&&num;8217&semi;s defense argued that she&&num;8217&semi;s only being charged because of a W-2 form sent to one of the co-defendants six years ago&comma; the publication stated&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;If anything&comma; it shows an isolated event&period; It was a one-time email that was sent per Marcos Lopez that indicated in the text of the email&period; There is also no indication here that she joined this criminal enterprise&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Michelle Yard said&period;<br>Yard argued that Robin Lopez had &&num;8216&semi;zero agreement&&num;8217&semi; to be involved in the alleged gambling ring&comma; which included her estranged husband and four other defendants&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;06&sol;Marcos-Lopez-arrest-3&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-480894" style&equals;"width&colon;840px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>Marcos Lopez was taken into custody &lbrack;photo&rsqb; on June 5 <strong>Lopez charged&period; He being charged with first-degree racketeering and first-degree conspiracy to commit racketeering is held without bond at the Lake County Jail <&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;06&sol;Robin-Lynn-Severance-Lopez-4&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-480888" style&equals;"width&colon;840px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>The defense argued that Robin&&num;8217&semi;s willingness to provide collateral fora bond of &dollar;1 million for Marcos doesn&&num;8217&semi;t make her a co-conspirator&comma; emphasizing that although their divorce has been pending since 2023&comma; they remain in contact due to their shared 15-year-old daughter<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&&num;8216&semi;Of course&comma; conspiracy requires that the government be able to show that there is a specific intent to engage in two or more predicate acts&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Yard argued&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;Here&comma; they&&num;8217&semi;ve only even alleged a single act&period; Whether that act is an act of racketeering or simply sending a W-2 is not a crime&comma;&&num;8217&semi; she added&period;<br>Despite being separated&comma; prosecutors alleged that Robin had previously attempted to help Marcos pay his &dollar;1 million bail&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;06&sol;Marcos-Lopez-1&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-480891" style&equals;"width&colon;809px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>It still remains unclear how much Robin actually knew&period; Was she fully aware of the operation as prosecutors insist or acting under pressure&quest; The state points out that despite being separated&comma; Robin had previously attempted to help Marcos pay his &dollar;1 million bail<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>However&comma; the defense argued&comma; Robin&&num;8217&semi;s willingness to provide collateral for his bond doesn&&num;8217&semi;t make her a co-conspirator&comma; emphasizing that although their divorce has been pending since 2023&comma; they couple who separated in 2019&comma; remain in contact as they co-parent their shared 15-year-old daughter&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;The reality of that is that they have a child together and they are co-parents&period; Ms&period; Severance Lopez is not a co-conspirator&period; She is a co-parent&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Yard said&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;Of course&comma; she doesn’t want the father of her child to remain in jail if he doesn’t need to&comma; she added&period;<br>It still remains unclear how much Robin actually knew&comma; as prosecutors haven’t said whether she was fully aware of the operation or acting under pressure&period;<br>The nature and extent of her communication with the other alleged co-conspirators also remains unclear&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;06&sol;Marcos-Lopez-4&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-480892" style&equals;"width&colon;823px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>The illegal enterprise&comma; according to investigators&comma; operated lotteries and slot machines throughout Lake and Osceola Counties&period; Prosecutors say Sheriff Lopez &lbrack;photo&rsqb;&comma; not only protected the operation but advanced its interests after taking office in 2021<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>If released on bond&comma; she will be fitted with a GPS monitor and must surrender her passport and any firearms within 24 hours&period; She has also been barred from any further contact with her estranged husband&period;<br>Robin was booked into Lake County Jail on charges of conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to use or invest proceeds from racketeering&period; She is expected back in court on July 21&period;<br>Once celebrated as the county’s first Hispanic sheriff&comma; prosecutors say Lopez not only protected the operation but advanced its interests after taking office in 2021&period; <br>The investigation into Marcos&&num;8217&semi;s alleged criminal empire began in 2023&period; The illegal enterprise&comma; according to investigators&comma; operated lotteries and slot machines throughout Lake and Osceola Counties&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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