TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Attorney General asked but Florida's Supreme Court denied a request for the high court take over jurisdiction of a criminal case against a Jacksonville attorney.
In 2013, a Seminole County jury found Kelly Mathis, a former Jacksonville Bar Association president, guilty on 103 counts of of racketeering, conducting an illegal lottery and slot machine possession. The charges stemmed from Mathis' representation of controversial business Allied Veterans of the World that was linked to a statewide gambling ring.
He was sentenced to 6 years in jail, and he served four days before being released on bail during his appeal. The Florida Bar suspended his license to practice law.
In October, the 5th District Court of Appeals threw out Mathis' conviction. Attorney General Pam Bondi's office petitioned the Florida Supreme Court, asking it to accept jurisdiction of the case. In a court order filed Wednesday, the Court decided to decline accepting the case.
Out of 57 people arrested for their involvement with Allied, only Mathis' case went to trial.
Bondi has the option to re-try Mathis again in Seminole County at the trial level.
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Mathis has said if the state seeks a new trial, he plans to call witnesses who agree that Allied's game rooms were not violating the law. The Court of Appeals ruled that Mathis was not given the opportunity to put up this defense during the 2013 trial, and overturned the jury conviction.
