It appears the criminal case against Kelly Mathis isn’t over yet.
Defense attorney Mitch Stone said Sunday the state is going to proceed with a request for a rehearing at the 5th District Court of Appeal.
The appellate court this month threw out 103 gambling-related convictions against Mathis, the only one of 57 defendants in the Allied Veterans of the World investigation to face prison time. He was sentenced to six years but allowed to stay free during the three-year appeal.
The request for a rehearing also will likely delay proceedings to begin the process of getting Mathis’ law license back. It was suspended after the jury’s verdicts in October 2013.
The appellate court ordered a new trial to give Mathis the opportunity to present evidence to defend himself, which he was not allowed to do during the 2013 case in Seminole County.
Stone said he expects the appellate court’s decision — which he called “well-reasoned, well written and supported by the law” — to stand.
He said the defense team would like Attorney General Pam Bondi and the statewide prosecutor to consider not prosecuting Mathis again, but expects they will.
Mathis was labeled by Bondi’s office as the “mastermind” of a $300 million gambling ring operated by Allied Veterans through dozens of internet cafes.
The former Jacksonville Bar Association president contended he was only the nonprofit’s lawyer and was not involved in the operation of the business. The $6 million he received from Allied Veterans was for legal fees, he said. The group also donated about $6 million to veterans’ charities.
The appellate court said Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester did not allow Mathis’ lawyers to present evidence to support his theory of defense.
That included Mathis’ extensive research to determine if internet cafes and their sweepstakes were legal under the state’s game promotions law. It also included testimony from attorneys and officials around the state who said the cafes were legal in Florida.
“We feel strongly that the evidence will exonerate Kelly,” Stone said.
Brian Tannebaum is representing Mathis in his attempt to have the Florida Supreme Court reinstate his license. The Miami attorney said last week if the state filed for a rehearing, he would wait until the court’s ruling before beginning the process to get Mathis’ license back.
The process, he said, is complicated because there is case law and there are the rules of The Florida Bar.
Tannebaum explained case law says when a criminal conviction is reversed, the defendant should be returned to where he or she was before that conviction.
Florida Bar rules, he said, require if an attorney is suspended because of a criminal conviction that is later reversed, the conviction stays in place unless it is modified by the court.
He said the Florida Supreme Court, which is the last stop for Bar disciplinary actions, has the discretion to give Mathis his license back or wait until the case is over.
Tannebaum thinks the Florida Supreme Court agreed to stay disciplinary proceedings against Mathis after the convictions because the matter dealt with a lawyer giving legal advice.
“My thought on that is they looked at this case and said this is a case where we don’t want to make a final decision about Mr. Mathis’ license until this case is over,” he said.
Tannebaum sympathizes with what Mathis has been through during the ordeal.
“Kelly was a very, very prominent guy. To go from that status in life to ‘I may go to prison for six years’ … I can’t even imagine,” he said.
Despite those difficult times, Tannebaum described Mathis as “probably one of the calmest people I’ve represented in this type of situation.”
“Every time I talk to Kelly, it’s like I’m talking to a lawyer. He’s very matter of fact,” he said. “He respected my role in the process. He never questioned what I was doing.”
Tannebaum said the case “really destroyed” his client’s law practice, which Mathis said had seven attorneys when he was arrested in March 2013.
The case also took its toll on his marriage. The father of four said he and his wife, Donna, are divorcing. She worked at the law practice and stood beside him during the trial.
Mathis said this month that he knows some clients won’t hire him, even after his name is cleared. Some will always think he probably did something wrong.
“That’s a shame,” Mathis said. “But that’s a reality.”
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