Bodycam Shows Deputies Visiting ‘Illegal Casino’ at Center of Florida Sheriff Corruption Case

In late 2022, Osceola County deputies conducted a routine business check on the Eclipse Social Club in Kissimmee. Fla.

Inside, they found “casino-style digital slot machines” and other gambling devices, according to an incident report – evidence that appeared consistent with an illegal gambling operation.

No manager was on duty, and no occupational license was prominently displayed for deputies to inspect, the report said. Despite that, the deputies left without shutting the operation down or making arrests.

While they were looking around the club, prosecutors allege operator Krishna Deokaran, who had been informed by staff of their presence, texted then-Osceola Sheriff Marcos Lopez: “Your deputies is [sic] at the Eclipse.”

“Let me know if they say anything,” Lopez is alleged to have replied.

Bodycam Footage Released

Nearly three years later, Lopez was arrested on racketeering charges. State prosecutors allege he protected and profited from the operation and others like it.

Now new bodycam footage obtained by Florida TV station News 6documents the deputies’ visit to the club, providing a glimpse inside the venue years before the alleged corruption scheme was uncovered.

Florida prosecutors allege Lopez accepted approximately $700,000 from Deokaran in exchange for using his position as sheriff to shield the operation from law enforcement scrutiny.

According to prosecutors, Lopez was a business partner of Deokaran’s and helped secure the lease for the Eclipse.

Deokaran later told state investigators he gave Lopez proceeds from the gambling business, often placing the cash in manila envelopes, court records show.

He pleaded guilty to federal money laundering charges and is cooperating with investigators.

‘No Paper Trail’

Lopez denies charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering through his attorneys and has pleaded not guilty. He faces decades in prison if convicted.

His lawyer, Migdalia Perez, told News 6 it was “relying on fragmented evidence to create a fundamentally misleading impression on this complex criminal matter.”

The newly released footage does not implicate the deputies in wrongdoing. One later told investigators he had found it suspicious that business was operating apparently “with no paper trail.”