Investigation involved multiple establishments, Sheriff’s Office reports
In cooperation with the Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC), the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) has arrested five people on charges related to illegal gambling, the Sheriff’s Office announced on March 4.
The suspects are Ciara Boles, 34, and Stivi Breshani, 29, both of Venice; Emily Athena Gill, 26, of 6701 Avenue A, Apt. 2, in Sarasota; Ilir Iskali, 44, of Addison, Illinois; and Christine V. McCormack, 42, of 1626 Beacon Drive in Port Charlotte, a Sheriff’s Office news release and court records say.
The arrests resulted from an investigation “into multiple illegal gambling establishments within Sarasota County,” which began in April 2024, the release explains. As a result of the investigation, the release adds, “detectives obtained a search warrant for the business along with arrest warrants for these subjects involved in the operation.”
The arrest warrant for Gill, which The Sarasota News Leader found on the website of the Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller, explained that Sheriff’s Office personnel had “conducted an undercover gambling operation at Palm Social Center,” but no address was given for the business.
The warrant added that players observed inside the establishment were “utilizing slot machines that fit the Florida Statute definition of gambling.” Iskali was “believed to be the owner of the establishment and the slot machines inside,” the warrant said.
Gill was arrested at the business on Feb. 26, the news release notes, though no name was given for the business in the release. The Sheriff’s Office “Fugitive Apprehension Unit assisted with the location and arrests of Boles and McCormack on that same day,” the release adds.
On Feb. 28, an additional arrest warrant was obtained for Breshani, “who was arrested and taken into custody without incident,” the release says. Then, on March 3, it notes, “Iskali turned himself in at the Sarasota County Correctional Facility,” which is in downtown Sarasota.
“All five of the defendants were charged with Criminal Enterprise (RICO),” the release points out. “Additional charges among the five suspects” include Possession of a Slot Machine, Maintaining a Gambling Establishment, and Money Laundering, the release says.
“One other suspect, Llia Lulo, has not been taken into custody,” but an arrest warrant has been obtained for her, the release adds.
The warrant for Gill identified Lulo as having been “observed as a key employee of the establishment from both surveillance and undercover operations.” She was “observed depositing cash proceeds from the illegal gaming establishment into the bank account owned by Iskali,” it added.
Nearly “60 illegal slot machines were seized from the business,” the news release points out.
“Our agency has received many complaints about these illegal establishments popping up in Sarasota County,” Sheriff Kurt A. Hoffman pointed out in the release. “This is the first of many steps towards holding them accountable and closing them down,“ he added.
“The Florida Gaming Control Commission is proud to partner with Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office,” Ross Marshman, acting executive director of the Florida Gaming Control Commission, said in the release. “SCSO has made its home safer by targeting those responsible for siphoning away funds from their neighbors with illegal slot machines,” Marshman added. “These unlawful machines are unregulated and lack any consumer protections,” he pointed out.
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Llia Lulo is asked to please submit an anonymous tip to Crimestoppers at 941-366-8477 or online at SarasotaCrimestoppers.com, the release adds.