LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – Suspended Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez posted a $1 million bond and left jail Thursday, three weeks after he was arrested in an illegal gambling case.
The judge in the case ruled on Thursday that the funds Lopez would use to pay his $1 million bond did not come from any criminal activity, a key requirement in order to get out of jail.
Lopez was taken to the Lake County Jail on June 5 after being arrested and has been in there ever since.
The sheriff faces two first-degree felonies: racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering. Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended him from office earlier this month.
Lopez is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal cash payments as part of what prosecutors are calling an organized criminal enterprise.
The crimes allegedly occurred from August 2019 to at least August 2024, according to court documents.
According to a 255-page affidavit filed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Lopez received more than $700,000 in cash payments since 2020.
[WATCH: Newly released documents shed more light in Lopez case]
The charges could lead to up to 30 years in prison.
Lopez’s wife, Robin Lynn Severance Lopez, was arrested earlier this week in connection with the case and remains in the Lake County Jail on a $400,000 bond.
She is the seventh person to be charged in the case.
In the wake of these developments, incoming Osceola County Sheriff Chris Blackmon is working diligently to move the department forward.
Speaking earlier this week, Blackmon told Osceola Community correspondent Laverne McGee about the challenges he faces as interim sheriff and the work needed to restore morale within the agency following the recent scandal.
“It’s just a huge challenge,” Blackmon said. “Right now, it is initially just building the morale back up in the agency because, when the event went down, it was embarrassing.”
Blackmon also addressed concerns about lingering loyalties to the former sheriff within the department. “I would say I want them to give me a chance to learn me. I realize that not everybody’s going to like me because they had their loyalty to the former sheriff. But that’s okay.”
To strengthen leadership, Blackmon has added experienced personnel to his command staff. Notably, Lee Massey — formerly with FDLE and a veteran of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office — will join as undersheriff.
Alex Guevara, who was previously a captain and considered a political casualty under Lopez, and Kevin Maroon from the Florida Highway Patrol will also join the command team. Dan Wise, former undersheriff, has been reassigned as a major overseeing the administrative bureau.
Looking ahead, Blackmon told News 6 that he is likely to run for sheriff when the current term ends