Former FOP president submits retirement to JSO

Nelson Cuba one of last to be adjudicated in Internet cafe scandal

Nelson Cuba appears at a hearing at the Seminole County Courthouse.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Nelson Cuba, the former president of the Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police, has submitted his retirement to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and his request for full retirement benefits was approved.

Those benefits come to more than $49,000 a year. The Pension Board approved the benefits without discussion.

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Cuba was among those arrested in the Allied Veterans of the World Internet cafe investigation.

He is still awaiting trial and is one of the last defendants to be adjudicated.

Cuba has a pretrial conference set for Sept. 11.

Last month, Robbie Freitas, the former vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, pleaded guilty in the scandal to illegal possession of a slot machine and illegally structuring financial transactions.

He took a plea deal to avoid jail time and will be sentenced Nov. 24.

The trials of the others charged in the case will take place before Freitas' sentencing.

Cuba's case is among the few that remain open in the investigation that dismantled a $300 million operation, netted 57 arrests, brought a six-year prison sentence for Jacksonville attorney Kelly Mathis and led to the resignation of former Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll.

Prosecutors said Cuba and Freitas were linked to five Allied Veterans affiliates -- three in Duval County and two in Nassau -- and deposited $576,100 into an FOP Foundation account between Sept. 4, 2009 and Dec. 30, 2011, followed by $571,400 in withdrawals.

The withdrawals were made every week or two, all in round amounts below $10,000.