SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — A Florida attorney was convicted Friday of using a veterans' organization as a front for a $300 million gambling operation in a case that led to the resignation of the state's lieutenant governor and caused the Legislature to ban so-called Internet cafes.
Six jurors deliberated for more than 14 hours before finding Kelly Mathis of Jacksonville guilty of possessing slot machines, helping operate a lottery and racketeering. He was found guilty on all but one of 104 counts against him.
He was the first of 57 defendants to go to trial in a case that led to the resignation of Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll who had worked as a consultant for the Allied Veterans charity. She wasn't charged with any crime.
Mathis argued that he was merely acting as an attorney, giving legal advice, and that the Internet cafes were legal until this year.
He faces dozens of years in prison.
Prosecutors said Mathis and his associates built up the network of casinos by claiming they were businesses where customers could buy Internet time, when in reality most customers played slot machine games on computers and didn't use the Internet. Even though the Internet cafes were being operated under the aegis of Allied Veterans of the World, very little of the $300 million the Allied Veteran affiliates earned actually went to veterans, prosecutors alleged.
Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys called as witnesses some of Mathis' key co-defendants who had reached deals with prosecutors: former Allied Veterans of the World leaders Johnny Duncan and Jerry Bass, as well as Chase Burns, who operated a company that made software for computers at the dozens of Allied Veterans centers around Florida.
Defense attorneys also didn't call some of the state's top politicians — such as Gov. Rick Scott, Agriculture Secretary Adam Putnam and Attorney General Pam Bondi — even though they were listed as potential witnesses. The judge in the case limited testimony from witnesses about efforts by local governments and the state Legislature to regulate the Internet cafes. Such testimony would have been valuable to the defense since it would be impossible to argue something was illegal if governments were setting regulations for it, said defense attorney Mitch Stone.
During the three-week trial, prosecutors called a 78-year-old woman who testified that she gambled every night and spent more than $55,000. They also called a retired Army colonel who testified he had stopped by an Allied Veterans affiliate thinking it was a place for veterans to get help but instead found what looked like dozens of slot machines.
Defense attorneys called to the witness stand a former City of Jacksonville attorney who testified he had agreed with Mathis' interpretation of the law that the Internet cafes were legal. They also called other law enforcement officials and municipal attorneys who said they had never found anything wrong with Mathis' interpretation of the law.
http://news.yahoo.com/attorney-fla-gambling-scheme-found-guilty-223625529.html
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