Kelly Mathis

TALLAHASSEE — An appeals court Friday ordered a new trial for a prominent Jacksonville attorney who was convicted on racketeering and gambling-related charges after authorities cracked down on internet cafes across the state.

Michael Dunn, Kelly Mathis, and pension reform are in the headlines today.

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — An attorney convicted of leading a $300 million gambling ring that used a veterans charity as a front has been sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Michael Dunn, Jimmy Ryce, and Kelly Mathis are in the headlines today.

Only about eight months ago, Jacksonville's Five Star Veterans Center didn’t know from one day to the next whether it's doors would remain open.

Today, not only is the facility for homeless military veterans still open, it’s getting a facelift thanks to about 100 local volunteers and big box hardware retailer The Home Depot.

CEO Len Loving was amazed on Thursday as volunteers began renovations.

"They’re all over the place like ants, outside doing the landscaping as well as doing the inside," he said.

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — A Florida attorney has been found guilty of running a gambling operation that was disguised as a veterans charity.

Six jurors deliberated for 14 hours before finding attorney Kelly Mathis guilty Friday of possessing slot machines, gambling, conducting a lottery and racketeering. He was found guilty on all but one of 104 counts against him.

Mathis was accused of operating dozens of so-called Internet cafes throughout the state. He is the first of 57 defendants to go on trial in the Allied Veterans case.

Jurors continue to deliberate in the Kelly Mathis trial, memo warns of terrorist "dry runs" on Florida bound flights, and the state's struggling health insurance exchange in headlines this morning.

The six member jury deciding the fate of Jacksonville attorney Kelly Mathis will return to deliberations today. Mathis was the lawyer for Allied Veterans of the World.

He’s accused of helping the charity group set up and run a statewide network of internet cafes that were really illegal gambling sites.

News4Jax’s Kumasi Aaron is in Sanford, covering the trial.  She says both the prosecution and the defense are optimistic about their chances.

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys are set to give their closing arguments in the case against a Jacksonville attorney accused of helping build up a network of storefront casinos under the guise of a veteran's charity.

Judge Kenneth Lester said Wednesday's arguments will not have any time restrictions. But he also said that could mean he may hold off on giving the jury its final instructions for deliberations until Thursday.

Karen remnants dump rain from Georgia to Jax, closing arguments expected in Mathis trial, and the local effects of the government shutdown are in headlines this morning.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida's statewide prosecutor told a jury that a Jacksonville attorney "gamed" the legal system in creating a network of gambling centers throughout Florida under the guide of a charitable veterans' group. The defense says he was just giving legal advice.

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville lawyer who prosecutors say masterminded a veterans' charity that was actually a $290 million gambling operation is the first of dozens of defendants to go to trial. 

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Some of the 57 Allied Veterans of the World defendants are in court in Sanford to set the schedule for their upcoming trials and to enter pleas.

About a half dozen defendants are in court Friday to find out how they will move ahead with their criminal proceedings.