Wife of suspended Osceola sheriff Marcos Lopez leaves jail after posting bond
Robin Severance-Lopez posted a $400,000 bond after Circuit Judge Brian Welke ruled earlier in the day that the funds she would post were proven to have come from legitimate sources and not an illegal activity, a requirement the court imposed after her arrest.
It was a quick reversal of fortune for Severance-Lopez, who had been denied her bond by Welke at a Thursday hearing after he questioned if all of the proposed funds were legitimate. Her attorney, Michelle Yard, had told reporters 'we're back to square one' after the hearing.
She was released around 7:20 p.m. from the Lake County Jail in Tavares. A 30-second video from WFTV Channel 9 shows Severance-Lopez being rushed into a truck while reporters surrounded her and shouted questions that she did not appear to answer.
Her husband bailed out of jail June 26 on a $1 million bond.
Severance-Lopez had been in the Lake County Jail since her arrest on June 23, charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering. Prosecutors have accused her of moving proceeds from an illegal gambling operation across several bank accounts she shared with Lopez. She has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Six people face charges in what prosecutors described as an illegal gambling empire that began with an illicit casino in Kissimmee called The Eclipse and later expanded into Lake County. Lopez and Severance-Lopez, they allege, played 'ministerial roles' as part of the operation, which allegedly generated $21.6 million.
The extent of the claims are documented in a 255-page affidavit that remains under seal while one co-defendant, Ying Zhang, remains free.
Over the years, prosecutors said Lopez made between $600,000 and $700,000 in illegal proceeds that either went to him personally or as campaign contributions. His involvement purportedly began in 2019, a year before he was elected Osceola's first Hispanic sheriff and continued throughout his tenure at the sheriff's office, where prosecutors contend he used his position to shield The Eclipse and its workers from legal scrutiny.
Prosecutors said Severance-Lopez was found to have withdrawn money on the day of Lopez's arrest and moved it to other accounts. Yard has said that money was used to pay bills and put toward her husband's bail. The case against Severance-Lopez, Yard said, hinges on a single email to Zhang containing a W-9 tax form.
At no point, she added, did her client join a criminal enterprise. She filed for divorce from Lopez in 2023 after being separated since 2019. That proceeding, filed in Brevard County, is ongoing.
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