Florida law enforcer convicted in major online gambling case

In what is probably the last in a series of convictions arising from the multi-state Allied Veterans of America online gambling bust (see previous reports), the former president of the Florida branch of the Fraternal Order of Police entered a guilty plea for running an illegal lottery (felony), illegally structuring financial transactions (felony) and illegal possession of a slot machine (misdemeanor).

Nelson Cuba, a former member of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and local president of the FOP, was originally indicted on a hundred diverse criminal counts in connection with his involvement in the AVA online gambling scheme.

He was sentenced to a year of house arrest, followed by four years probation, having made a $30,000 payment to a homeless veterans charity in the Orlando area and a pledge to pay an extral $250 a month for the duration of his house arrest and probation.

Cuba additionally surrendered his law enforcement certification, and can never be a police officer again.

Prosecutors claimed that Cuba and Robbie Freitas, the former vice president of the FOP, deposited $576,100 into an FOP Foundation account between Sept. 4, 2009 and Dec. 30, 2011, followed by $571,400 in withdrawals, made in weekly instalments below $10,000.

Last November, Cuba and the FOP Foundation surrendered funds in four bank accounts to the state of Florida.

The AVA was a $300 million operation, and its dismantling in 2013 resulted in 57 arrests, brought a six-year prison sentence for Jacksonville attorney and alleged ringleader Kelly Mathis and led to the resignation of former Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll (see previous reports).

Mathis went to trial and was convicted, but has appealed.