Ten people were arrested after Lee County detectives and Florida gaming regulators searched a network of five arcades accused of running illegal slot machines and seized 239 gambling devices, nearly $1.6 million in cash, gold and frozen bank assets, and a fleet of ten vehicles that included two Bentleys and a 2026 Cadillac Escalade.
The coordinated search warrants were carried out on Oct. 27 at locations across Florida and Pennsylvania, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, which said the operation dismantled an illegal gambling network connected to five Lee County gambling establishments. The agency reported that the arrests and seizures followed a months-long investigation built on undercover operations, surveillance, financial analysis and bank records used to trace who was financing, owning, managing and operating the businesses.
The targeted businesses were The Royal on Palm Arcade and 777 Arcade in Fort Myers, King's Paradise Arcade in North Fort Myers, Sneaky Pete's Lucky 7 Arcade in Bonita Springs and Spin City Arcade in Fort Myers, as reported by CBS12. Investigators seized 239 illegal slot machines in total, per Fox 35 Orlando.
Cash, Gold Bars and a Safe in Pennsylvania
The financial haul was substantial. Fox 35 Orlando reported that authorities seized $715,272 in currency, roughly $661,454 in gold coins and bars, and froze another $383,573 in bank assets. The sheriff's office put the combined total of seized cash, gold and frozen bank assets at $1,589,149, and said detectives recovered an additional $30,250 from gambling machines at Sneaky Pete's Lucky 7 Arcade and 777 Arcade.
Investigators also searched a residence in Mercer, Pennsylvania, where CBS12's report on the raids noted they found a large safe containing a substantial amount of cash and jewelry connected to the investigation. Detectives recovered high-value purses, jewelry and other evidence as part of the broader sweep. Ten vehicles were seized altogether, including two Bentleys, a Mercedes-Benz, several Cadillacs and a 2026 Cadillac Escalade, according to CBS12's account. Two residences were also targeted for civil forfeiture.
From Illegal Slots to a Racketeering Case
What began as an illegal gambling investigation expanded into a racketeering and money-laundering case, the sheriff's office said. The investigation drew on the Lee County Sheriff's Office's narcotics and economic crimes units, the Florida Gaming Control Commission, and law enforcement partners in Pennsylvania.
Sheriff Carmine Marceno said agencies followed the money and targeted the people and financial infrastructure investigators linked to the operation. Alana Zimmer said investigators from both agencies spent months preparing for the enforcement operation. Agencies described the effort as intended to disrupt illegal gambling operations and the criminal networks they may support — language that tracks with the sheriff's office's broader statement that illegal gambling can be linked to violent crime, narcotics and other criminal activity.
The sheriff's office identified the 10 people arrested as Dennis Martin, Ronald Longo, Timothy Fandry, Melissa Olarte, Dijela Ivezaj, William Holman, Debra Wolovlek, Angela Vittitoe, Harold Hauck Jr. and Stamena Gacevic, according to WINK News, which reported that records listed charges including conspiracy under Florida's racketeering statute, keeping a gambling house, possession of illegal gambling equipment and money laundering. CBS12's report on the same arrests, however, said the information released did not specify the charges against each individual or indicate whether they had attorneys.
Part of a Bigger Statewide Push
The Lee County raids land amid a broader statewide crackdown. Since its creation in July 2022, the Florida Gaming Control Commission has seized nearly 11,000 illegal slot machines and more than $23 million in gambling proceeds, according to the Palm Beach Post, which noted the agency shut down 184 illegal gambling arcades and made 177 arrests in the past year alone.
Similar enforcement has played out elsewhere in the state. In September, state and local authorities seized 163 illegal slot machines and nearly $250,000 in cash from two St. Petersburg businesses, with the Florida Gaming Control Commission, Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, Florida Highway Patrol and Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco executing those warrants, per FOX 13 News. That operation, dubbed Final Spin by regulators, came after the state had already closed more than 200 illegal arcades.
Yet enforcement hasn't always translated into arrests at the local level. Records obtained by WINK News showed that arrests tied to illegal arcades remained limited across Southwest Florida through 2024, 2025 and early 2026, even as the Gaming Control Commission logged 194 investigations and at least 51 arrests or notices to appear statewide between January and March of this year, with more than $1.3 million in cash confiscated in that same window. A 2026 bill that would have made operating illegal storefront casinos a third-degree felony failed to pass, the outlet reported.
Slot machines are illegal except at specified venues.
