A Central Florida businesswoman accused of working with suspended Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez in an illegal gambling operation might be living in China and out of reach of US law enforcement.
According to News 6, several former associates said Ying “Kate” Zhang is one of at least six defendants facing racketeering charges after an investigation into an unauthorized casino that allegedly pulled in more than $20 million in illegal proceeds.
The United States doesn’t have a formal extradition treaty with China that requires the two countries to hand over suspected criminals. Still, some extraditions have happened on a case-by-case basis.
This comes as Lopez’s estranged wife, Robin Severance Lopez, was released from prison on a $400,000 bond. She hasn’t entered a plea yet to a charge of conspiracy to commit racketeering.
Meanwhile, Lopez, Sharon Fedrick, Sheldon Wetherholt and Carol Cote have all pleaded not guilty to racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering. Each charge is a first-degree felony and carries a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
Defendant Zhang in Marcos Lopez case may have fled to China
Orlando criminal defense attorney Jonathan Rose, who isn’t connected to the case, told Spectrum News 13, “It’s likely that people will begin to enter into plea agreements, but that’s not something that I would expect them to be evaluating for some time unless, you know, a client just goes to the lawyer and says, ‘look, I know, I know they’ve got me. I know they’re going to have evidence against me, and I want to cut my losses.’”
“If it’s a first-degree felony, as you know, many of these will be a 30-year maximum. So when people are making these decisions, they have they’re making a business decision, and it’s based on risk tolerance,” Rose explained.
He also said that if Zhang has left the jurisdiction of the investigation, Homeland Security will likely partner with other law enforcement agencies to try to find and apprehend her.
Featured image: Homeland Security Tampa via X / Canva
