In March 2013, a press conference was held in Jacksonville, Florida regarding “Operation Reveal the Deal.” After years of investigations involving more than 500 law enforcement officers, internet cafés operated by Allied Veterans of the World were found to be a front, leading to 57 arrests and more than 0 million in seized assets. Attorney General Pam Bondi called the operation a “0 million illegal gambling scheme” and said participants would be prosecuted “to the fullest extent of the law.” The state legislature closed internet cafés across the state, tossing hundreds of people out of work.
Two years have passed and some have compared the state’s actions to “opening the door to Al Capone’s vault.” The majority of the seized millions have been returned and prosecutions mostly have amounted to plea deals. Recently, the last of the criminals, Nelson Cuba, former head of the Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police, agreed to one year of house arrest, four years of probation and a donation of $45,000 to a veterans group. None of the 57 people arrested has been sentenced to prison—except attorney Kelly Mathis, the only one who said he was innocent and would not take a deal. At his trial in October 2013, prosecutors said he was one of the leaders of the gambling operation that claimed to help veterans, but in reality only gave 2 percent to them. After 14 hours of deliberation, the jury found Mathis guilty of gambling-related charges and sentenced him to six years in prison. He has appealed and is free on bond.
However, as the attorney for Allied, Mathis was not involved in how much to give to veterans. He was hired to advise his clients regarding Florida’s less-than-crystal-clear gambling laws. Mathis’ attorney Mitch Stone said, “He was constantly challenging lawmakers, law enforcement, government lawyers and prosecutors, anyone who would listen, to tell him what their interpretation of this law was and whether he was mistaken and putting his client in jeopardy. He never, in any stretch of his imagination, imagined that he was putting himself in jeopardy.” He added, “Florida’s gambling laws are far from clear, and Mathis was trying to interpret them and walk through the gray area. He didn’t get rich doing this.”
Stone noted, “Kelly Mathis had no business interest. He was offered a piece. He chose to be the lawyer for the business, not the business owner. Plenty of people involved with the business end of it made millions and millions of dollars.”
That would include Chase Burns, an Oklahoma software designer who pleaded no contest to two felony counts of assisting in setting up a lottery and paid $10 million to settle a cash-forfeiture lawsuit. Eventually the state and the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office unfroze $81.5 million in his bank and brokerage accounts and returned his $4.5 million yacht.
The state called Mathis “the mastermind” in the scam and said he and his firm received $6 million from Allied. In actuality, his firm billed $1 million a year for six years, which is not an unreasonable amount for a firm to charge a business client who required a lot of time and some litigation. It had expenses to pay as well.
Mathis argued for those who made the real millions that their games were legal under Florida law. He did not take a deal, which could have led to his disbarment. Bondi said his conviction “should send a strong message.” Two years later, with state laws still unclear and internet cafés reopening across the state, some question what that message was.
