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Disgraced sheriff's wife shocked at judge's ruling as she appears in court on racketeering charges
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.
Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez, 55, was hauled away in handcuffs earlier this month, accused of orchestrating an illegal gambling ring that prosecutors say raked in over $21.6 million in illicit profits.
He is facing two first-degree felony charges - racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering - and has been held without bond at the Lake County Jail since his arrest.
On Monday, four weeks after the initial arrest, the sheriff's estranged wife, 50-year-old Robin Lynn Severance Lopez, was swept up in the growing scandal.
She was booked into jail on a $400,000 bond and charged with conspiracy to invest proceeds from racketeering, according to Fox 35 Orlando.
Robin made her first court appearance on Tuesday, where she appeared stunned that a judge denied her defense attorney's request she be released on $50,000 bond.
Her defense attorney argued there's no evidence she benefited from her estranged husband's actions or received any illegal funds from him.
But the judge denied the request after the state argued they would need to verify that any bail funds come from legitimate sources.
Prosecutors alleged she played a direct role in aiding her husband in the illegal gambling operation - an enterprise they both allegedly profited from, despite reportedly being separated since 2019.
They claimed 'she helped to facilitate the movement of illicit money and receipt of illicit payments from other coconspirators to Lopez, which is believed to have reached to be at least $600 to $700,000.'
Although Robin claimed to earn just $1,300 a month from a part-time job, investigators found $123,000 in her bank account, as reported by Fox Orlando.
'She has meaningful financial resources, which interestingly, cannot be explained by a legitimate employment or a business source based on law enforcement's review of her bank records and other filings,' state prosecutor Colleen Monroe said, as reported by Spectrum News 13.
The state also highlighted bank slips found during her arrest, showing nearly $180,000 in deposits made shortly after Marcos June 5 arrest.
'Since the beginning of this conspiracy - through even today's date - the defendant has had access to large amounts of cash, including deposits, withdrawals and acquisitions that far exceed her legitimate employment, business, or retirement income,' Monroe added.
Robin's defense argued that she's only being charged because of a W-2 form sent to one of the co-defendants six years ago, the publication stated.
'If anything, it shows an isolated event. It was a one-time email that was sent per Marcos Lopez that indicated in the text of the email. There is also no indication here that she joined this criminal enterprise,' defense attorney Michelle Yard said.
She argued Robin had 'zero agreement' to be involved in the alleged gambling ring, which included her estranged husband and four other defendants.
'Of course, conspiracy requires that the government be able to show that there is a specific intent to engage in two or more predicate acts,' Yard argued.
'Here, they've only even alleged a single act. Whether that act is an act of racketeering or simply sending a W-2 is not a crime,' she added.
Despite being separated, prosecutors alleged that Robin had previously attempted to help Marcos pay his $1 million bail.
However, the defense argued that Robin's willingness to provide collateral for his bond doesn't make her a co-conspirator, emphasizing that although their divorce has been pending since 2023, they remain in contact due to their shared 15-year-old daughter.
'The reality of that is that they have a child together and they are co-parents. Ms. Severance Lopez is not a co-conspirator. She is a co-parent,' Yard said.
'Of course, she doesn't want the father of her child to remain in jail if he doesn't need to, she added.
It still remains unclear how much Robin actually knew, as prosecutors haven't said whether she was fully aware of the operation or acting under pressure, as reported by Fox Orlando.
The nature and extent of her communication with the other alleged co-conspirators also remains unclear.
If released on bond, she will be fitted with a GPS monitor and must surrender her passport and any firearms within 24 hours. She has also been barred from any further contact with her estranged husband.
Robin was booked into Lake County Jail on charges of conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to use or invest proceeds from racketeering. She is expected back in court on July 21.
Once celebrated as the county's first Hispanic sheriff, Marcos's fall from grace is all the more striking given his historic rise and respected background.
Born in Chicago and raised in Central Florida, he joined the Osceola County Sheriff's Office in 2003 while serving in the Navy Reserve.
He later earned an associate's degree in criminal justice and rose through the ranks to become sheriff in 2021, making history in the process.
Marcos was re-elected in 2024, but his second term barely got underway before the investigation got underway.
But the gambling allegations aren't his only scandal.
Earlier this year, Marcos and four deputies were named in a civil lawsuit over a 2022 incident in which deputies tackled a man at a gas station, resulting in burns covering more than 75 percent of his body.
The investigation into Marcos's alleged criminal empire began in 2023. The illegal enterprise, according to investigators, operated lotteries and slot machines throughout Lake and Osceola Counties.
