Co-defendant of suspended Florida sheriff pleads guilty in illegal gambling case

Cristóbal Reyes, Orlando Sentinel on Oct 7, 2025

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ORLANDO, Fla. — A co-defendant of suspended Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez has pleaded guilty to her role in an illegal multi-county gambling operation, while another is anticipated to follow suit as prosecutors circle the wagons against the beleaguered former lawman.

In front of Lake County Circuit Judge Brian Welke on Monday, Carol Cote pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering in exchange for testimony and a maximum 364-day sentence in jail.

Cote, 31, was the bookkeeper for the gambling business, which began in Sumter and Marion counties and later expanded to Lake and Osceola where it enlisted Lopez, according to investigators.

Cote’s sentencing date has not been set. Meanwhile, Sheldon Wetherholt, the 39-year-old whose name was on business records for entities that operated the illicit enterprise, was expected to plead guilty Monday, according to court records showing a scheduled plea hearing, but that hearing now looks to have been delayed.

The guilty pleas add to the mounting obstacles for Lopez, once one of Central Florida’s best-known law enforcement officers, in his bid to stay out of prison. A 255-page arrest affidavit released last month cited dozens of incriminating electronic messages, financial records and interviews, including powerful material from the businessman at the center of the illicit enterprise, Krishna Deokaran.

Messages sent Tuesday to court officials and Wetherholt’s public defenders seeking comment were not immediately returned.

The pleas come ahead of a pre-trial hearing set for Thursday, where Lopez and his other co-defendants — Sharon Fedrick, an alleged employee who paid the business’ bills, and Robin Severance-Lopez, Lopez’s estranged wife who prosecutors said played a “ministerial” role in the enterprise — were expected to appear. Ying Zhang, another alleged co-conspirator, remains the only indicted person not to have been arrested as she is believed to have fled to China.

Investigators allege in the affidavit that in 2019, Lopez, who at the time was a deputy running for office, expressed interest in setting up the illegal game rooms after meeting with Deokaran through a personal friend and security guard at one of Deokaran’s establishments in Leesburg. From there, he linked Deokaran with Zhang, and the three allegedly went into business together in exchange for thousands of dollars a month used as campaign contributions, most apparently unreported in financial disclosures.

Once Lopez was elected, the affidavit noted, he and his associates began seeking locations for a casino in Osceola County. The months-long effort eventually settled on a building at 4561 W. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway, which the Orlando Sentinel reported had caught Lopez’s eye in the wake of a young woman’s murder there in October 2021.

The establishment, known as The Eclipse, opened seven months later and benefited from Lopez being in office. He used his position to shield the business from law enforcement scrutiny, including his own deputies, by calling them off when Deokaran flagged their presence inside, according to the affidavit.

It all came crashing down on June 5, when the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations began arresting the co-conspirators. Lopez was handcuffed by federal agents while dressed in his sheriff’s uniform.

Lopez, Severance-Lopez, and Fedrick have all pleaded not guilty to racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering, each of which carry 30-year prison sentences. Wetherholt and Cote initially pleaded not guilty to those charges as well.

Wetherholt told investigators he pushed Deokaran to remove his name from the business records once he learned the establishments were illegal gambling spots filled with slot machines, fish tables and other games prohibited throughout most of Florida under state law.

Cote, meanwhile, kept the enterprise’s financial records in spreadsheets and notes, which she turned over to investigators even after Deokaran allegedly told her to destroy them. Though Deokaran was named as a co-conspirator by prosecutors in open court, he has not been charged with a crime.

Lopez is scheduled to face trial on Oct. 20, but that date likely will be pushed back as his attorneys prepare his defense.

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