State abandons its internet cafe gambling case against attorney

SANFORD — Prosecutors on Wednesday dropped the criminal case against a prominent Jacksonville attorney who was convicted of masterminding a $300 million internet café gambling operation.

In 2013, a Seminole County jury convicted Kelly Mathis, 53, of racketeering and more than 100 other counts, including possessing illegal slot machines and running illegal lotteries.

Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. then sentenced him to six years in prison, but allowed him to remain free while he pursued an appeal.

“I think I’ll prevail on appeal,” Mathis said the day he was sentenced. He was right. In October, the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach reversed his convictions and ordered a new trial.

On Wednesday, Statewide Prosecutor Nick Cox notified defense attorney Mitch Stone that he had dropped the charges rather than go to the expense and trouble of another trial.

Mathis had maintained from the start that he did not break the law. He said he was merely a lawyer to a nonprofit, Allied Veterans of the World, that opened a chain of legitimate internet cafes.

Cox, though, argued that what Allied Veterans was a poorly disguised string of casinos that generated $300 million in illegal revenue.

Inside each storefront were personal computers equipped with software that allowed users to convert them into virtual slot machines, prosecutors said.

In March 2013, law enforcement officers statewide raided and shut down more than 50 Allied sites. They also arrested more than 50 people, including Mathis, Allied executives and franchise holders.

Prosecutors dropped charges against many of the defendants. Other defendants entered pretrial diversion programs. A few were placed on probation. Only Mathis went to trial.

The criminal investigation was led by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, with the help of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.