TAVARES, Fla. — The lawyer representing the estranged wife of suspended Sheriff Marcos Lopez says she’s requested an emergency hearing to get Robin Severance-Lopez out of jail.
It comes after attorney Michelle Yard said statewide prosecutors objected to lifting a hold on Severance-Lopez Monday afternoon.
A day after her arrest, a judge placed a hold on Severance-Lopez, requiring that she can prove all money and colleterial she posts for her $400,000 bond is not tied to the alleged gambling operation before bailing out.
Severance-Lopez has been in the Lake County Jail since June 23, when she was arrested by federal agents outside her home in Harmony.
Yard expected Severance-Lopez to bond out on Monday after they turned over months’ worth of financial documents that she claimed proves the money isn’t tied to the alleged criminal enterprise. The documents include Severance-Lopez’s and a family member’s bank accounts, written checks, collateral records and a statement from the bondsman, Yard says.
Yard told Channel 9 she believed these documents were sufficient to meet all the requirements to bail Severance-Lopez out of jail.
However, statewide prosecutors objected Monday afternoon, saying there was not enough evidence that the money is clean, Yard says.
Yard said she asked for an emergency hearing to be held either on Monday or Tuesday, but the earliest the statewide prosecutors would meet is on Thursday.
“I don’t think it’s fair at all. I think she’s posted her bond. She’s met all these conditions that they asked her to meet. And now today’s Monday, she has to sit there for three more days after she has met her conditions to have a hearing on whether a judge thinks that the proof of the source of funds is sufficient because the statewide prosecutor won’t agree,” Yard said.
Yard added that she and her client were still trying to understand why she has been charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering.
“She’s shocked. She’s still in a state of shock right now,” Yard said.
Prosecutors said Robin and her estranged husband Marcos Lopez profited nearly a million dollars from the illegal gambling operation and allegedly helped to move $600,000 to $700,000.
We asked Yard about the prosecutors’ accusations. She claimed she’s seen no evidence of that in the sealed 255-page arrest affidavit. She told Channel 9 she only saw one mention of evidence against Severance-Lopez.
“All that we have so far is that she’s alleged to have sent an email containing a tax document back in 2019. And that’s it,” Yard said.
The public, including the media, still does not have access to the 255-page affidavit because the record remains sealed.
Yard said the hope is that Severance-Lopez will bail out by Thursday. Marcos Lopez finally bonded out of jail last Thursday.
Marcos and Robin Lopez share a 15-year-old son.
“The fact that Marcos was able to bail out on Thursday, this is the mother of his child, his wife. Does she have any response to that?,” Webb asked Yard.
“Robin of course is happy that their son is able to be with at least one of them, but certainly feels that it’s very unfair that she is still in jail... whenever honestly there’s no reason for her to be there at all,” Yard replied.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2025 Cox Media Group
