Archive for June 6th, 2025

You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#148 in a series)

Friday, June 6th, 2025

Marcos Lopez is the sheriff of Osceola County in Florida, though he is currently suspended.

Why is he suspended? Because he was indicted on racketeering and “conspiracy to commit racketeering” charges on Thursday.

A charging document released by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office said the case centers around a money-laundering operation through an illegal gambling house in Kissimmee known as the Fusion Social Club run by Lopez and his co-conspirators. The establishment conducted illegal lotteries while illicitly possessing slot machines as part of an operation enriching the sheriff while in office.

NYT:

The charges stem from a joint investigation conducted in 2023 by Homeland Security Investigations and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The inquiry uncovered a criminal syndicate that prosecutors say operated an illegal gambling network that generated about $22 million across Central Florida, especially in Lake and Osceola Counties.
Prosecutors said that Sheriff Lopez’s ties to the casino, the Eclipse Social Club in Kissimmee, Fla., date to 2019, a year before his election. After becoming sheriff in 2020, prosecutors said, he continued to protect the gambling ring as it expanded in Florida while collecting a portion of proceeds.
Prosecutors said that Sheriff Lopez’s involvement in the gambling enterprise continued until as recently as August 2024, months before he was re-elected in November.

Switching back to the Tampa Bay Times:

It all amounts to a disgraceful denouement for Lopez, who has been a magnet for controversy since he became Osceola’s first Hispanic sheriff in 2020. The longtime lawman has been accused of personal indiscretions such as receiving a nude photo of a co-worker, and professional missteps including his deputies’ aggressive actions in pursuing shoplifters at a Target and killing their driver. Most recently, Lopez posted on social media a picture of the corpse of 13-year-old Madeline Soto, then lied about what he had done.

Posted in Cops, Law, Politics | 1 Comment »

Zero Stars.

Friday, June 6th, 2025

Pete DeBoer out as head coach of the Dallas Stars.

Dallas joined the 1975-77 Islanders as the only teams in the expansion era to lose in the round before the Stanley Cup Final for three straight seasons.

(Sorry for the straight-up ESPN link, but the Dallas papers are pretty much unlinkable.)

Posted in Firings, Sports | Comments Closed

Obit watch: June 6, 2025.

Friday, June 6th, 2025

Mara Corday, actress. I have not seen a THR obit for her, and the paper of records says she died on February 9th:

Her death, which was not widely reported at the time, was confirmed in an obituary published on May 30 in The Washington Post, which obtained her death certificate.

Other credits include “Peter Gunn”, “Naked Gun” (1956), and “Francis Joins the WACS”.

It is mentioned in the subhead, but Clint Eastwood’s 95th birthday was this past weekend, and they don’t show the video, so…

(Fun fact: according to IMDB, “Go ahead, make my day.” was contributed by Charles B. Pierce, who is credited as one of the writers. That’s Charles B. Pierce of “The Legend of Boggy Creek” and “Boggy Creek II: And the Legend Continues”.)

(No, the Saturday Movie Group didn’t watch “Sudden Impact” this past weekend. We watched “The Enforcer” because that was the next movie in our Dirty Harry rotation. I am looking forward to watching “Sudden Impact”, though, because I haven’t seen that since it was in theaters.)

Posted in Movies, Obits | Comments Closed