Florida Deputies Raid Gambling Parlor Linked to RICO Case Against Ex-Sheriff

Posted on: January 12, 2026, 01:29h. 

Last updated on: January 12, 2026, 01:29h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.
  • Lake County raid nets 231 illegal machines and $158,000 cash
  • Hot Seats linked in filings tied to ex-sheriff Marcos Lopez
  • Lake County’s terminal-permit ordinance clashed with Florida slot laws

Police in Lake County, Fla. have raided an illegal gaming parlor linked to Marcos Lopez, the former Osceola County Sheriff racing racketeering charges for protecting and profiting from an illicit gambling operation.

Marcos Lopez, Lake County raid, illegal gambling parlors, racketeering, slot machines
Ex-Sheriff Marcos Lopez, above, is accused of receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks for protecting a network of gaming parlors in central Florida. (Image: Florida Sheriffs Association)

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said it had seized prohibited slot machines and cash during a Thursday raid on Hot Seats, a venue in the city of Leesburg. Deputies also targeted two more gambling parlors unconnected to Lopez: The Hub, also in Leesburg, and House of Treasures in Umatilla.

Part of an investigation dubbed, inexplicably, “Operation Calvin Coolidge,” the raids turned up a total of 231 illegal machines and more than $158,000 in cash, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

“We will continue these operations to eradicate this illegal activity and arrest those that are responsible,” Sheriff Peyton Grinnell said in a statement.

Lopez’s Operation

Prosecutors in Osceola County claim Lopez played a “multifaceted role” in expanding and shielding an illegal gambling operation that allegedly generated more than $21 million and was rife with public corruption.

Beginning in 2019, the scheme operated mainly in Osceola and Lake counties and continued until at least early 2024, according to prosecutors. From mid-2022, Lopez and four associates allegedly managed the operation and shared in its profits, they claim.

Lopez, first elected in 2020 and re-elected in 2024, was arrested on June 5, 2025, and charged with racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering, which he denies. Hot Seats was mentioned in court filings last summer related to the Lopez case. He remains free on a $1 million bond.

Legal Confusion

Numerous gambling parlors emerged in Lake County after a 2021 ordinance allowed venues to obtain permits for up to 25 gaming terminals, provided they submitted to annual inspections, according to The Orlando Sentinel. State law, however, limits legal slot machines to tribal land and to Miami-Dade and Broward counties, putting the local permits at odds with state authorities.

This created confusion for law enforcement until 2024, when the ordinance was repealed because of pressure from the state, which warned counties their ordinances could not override state law.

However, there was no such ordinance in Osceola County, where, prosecutors will argue, certain gambling parlors were under the protection of the sheriff.

Lopez is alleged to have received between $600,000 and $700,000 in cash kickbacks, typically in manila envelopes, according to court filings. Meanwhile, a local businesswoman who pleaded guilty to importing slot machines from China, allegedly paid him $4,000 to $6,000 per month.

He faces decades in prison if convicted.