Wife of former Florida sheriff takes plea deal in racketeering case

Silas Morgan, Orlando Sentinel on Nov 24, 2025

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ORLANDO, Fla. — The estranged wife of former Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez accepted a plea deal Monday, avoiding jail time in exchange for possible testimony against her husband in his racketeering trial.

Robin Severance-Lopez, initially charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of money laundering and a separate charge of lying to a judge for a bond modification, according to the plea agreement. She will have to serve a minimum of two years of probation and pay $5,356 in investigative fees to the state.

Prosecutors had accused Severance-Lopez of playing a “ministerial” role in a multimillion-dollar illegal gambling enterprise spread across three counties alongside Lopez. He is accused of helping establish an illegal casino in Kissimmee called The Eclipse and using his position as sheriff to protect it in exchange for personal payments and campaign contributions.

Severance-Lopez was first arrested on a racketeering charge in June, but was released on $400,000 bond in early July. She was arrested again in October after prosecutors said she opened up three bank accounts while on bond and moved thousands of dollars she later told a judge she didn’t have.

The plea deal comes just weeks after Severance-Lopez rejected a similar agreement. Her attorney, Michelle Yard, said at the time she refused that deal because it required her client to be formally convicted of a crime. In contrast, the new deal waives Severance-Lopez’s formal conviction on the charges to which she pleaded.

The acceptance of the new deal also comes just three days after prosecutors disclosed the testimony of a key player-turned-witness that alleged Severance-Lopez was handed money gained from the illegal gambling operation to give to Lopez. Yard had previously maintained that the prosecution’s case against her client hinged upon a single email sent to one of Lopez’s alleged collaborators.

Krishna Deokaran, who prosecutors said owned and operated many of the illegal casinos used in the operation, is expected to testify he gave an envelope of cash to Severance-Lopez on Dec. 16, 2022, in the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office parking lot, placed in a bag containing other gifts, according to a discovery notice.

“This is for Marco,” Deokaran claims he told Severance-Lopez. The money is said to have come from the proceeds of The Eclipse casino, which Lopez was protecting.

Deokaran, who prosecutors have called an unindicted co-conspirator, was charged with money laundering in relation to the enterprise. He pleaded not guilty.

Four other people were charged with racketeering in addition to Lopez. Three have taken plea deals, while the fourth, Ying Zhang, has allegedly fled to China to evade prosecution.

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