Osceola County Interim Sheriff Chris Blackmon announced plans to order a "forensic audit" of the sheriff's office to expose any other possible ties to former Sheriff Marcos Lopez's alleged misconduct.
Blackmon brought the request up with Osceola County Manager Don Fisher during a budget meeting.
Fisher agreed and said the county would pay for the audit. The cost is unclear as it waits for an auditor. The choice of who audits the office lies with Blackmon.
The sheriff's office was not available for comment.
On Monday, Robin Lynn Severance-Lopez, the estranged wife of the former sheriff, was released from Lake County Jail after her arrest two weeks ago on charges of second according to court records two weeks earlier.
According to court records, she was the sixth person arrested for possible involvement in the operations of a multimillion-dollar illegal casino in Kissimmee.
Her attorneys pleaded not guilty and criticized the prosecution for alleging her involvement from a single 2019 email with an accused co-conspirator. Her attorneys argued there was no evidence of a pattern of repeated offenses.
Severance-Lopez has been separated from her husband since 2019, which is also about the time when investigators believe the sheriff started the casino enterprise. A divorce between the two was filed in 2023 but is still pending. Severance-Lopez offered a property to her husband to help post his bond.
Marcos Lopez paid a bond of $1 million. He was in Lake County Jail for three weeks until he could verify the money used for the bond was procured through legitimate means.
He has pleaded not guilty on charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering, both second-degree felonies. Investigators said Lopez operated an illegal casino in Kissimmee known as The Eclipse.
The same day Lopez was arrested, two members of the sheriff's office were fired: executive director Nirva Rodriguez and civilian employee Ruben De Jesus. Rodriguez started her position shortly after Lopez began his role as sheriff. Both were at-will employees. The sheriff's office was not able to confirm whether their firings were related to the Lopez investigation.
Lopez is scheduled for a private plea negotiation in August.
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