In 2013, Florida officials raided and shut down internet cafés statewide because of the scandal involving Allied Veterans of the World, which operated dozens of internet cafes. Allied’s attorney Kelly Mathis was the only individual charged in the case; he was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison on 103 charges resulting from racketeering and gambling-related crimes.
In October, the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach dismissed Mathis’ convictions and sentencing, and ruled he should receive a new trial. The court found the circuit judge who convicted Mathis did not allow evidence in support of Mathis’ defense to be presented at trial.
Now Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office has requested the state Supreme Court to assume jurisdiction over the case. Statewide Prosecutor Nick Cox said, “The Office of Statewide Prosecution has filed a motion with the Florida Supreme Court asking them to accept jurisdiction over this matter and allow us to continue our appeal of the decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeals. We will be filing a brief within the next two weeks regarding the discretionary jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. As this litigation is ongoing, we cannot comment further at this time.”
One of the attorneys for Mathis, Michael Ufferman, said, “Regarding the state’s notice seeking to invoke the jurisdiction of the Florida Supreme Court, Mathis is hopeful that the Florida Supreme Court will decline to accept jurisdiction in this case.”
If he’s granted a new trial, Mathis could fully present his defense to the charges that did not exist in the first trial, said another of his attorneys, Lee Lockett. “That’s because of the Fifth District Court’s ruling that upon re-trial, Mathis will be permitted to offer witnesses and evidence that his legal opinion was based on sound legal research as well as several consultations with governmental officials statewide who also agreed that the business model in place was in fact legal,” Lockett said.
Mathis currently is suspended from practicing law and could be disbarred if he’s convicted a second time.
