POLK COUNTY, Fla. – The Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) arrested a 39-year-old Lakeland man on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, for money laundering, following an investigation that revealed his attempts to conceal more than $800,000 in proceeds from illegal gambling games.
James Patrick Kerr was charged with three counts of Fraud-Money Laundering in Excess of $100,000 (F1).
“One of our undercover detectives infiltrated Kerr’s illegal poker games that were being conducted in the Winter Haven area. As the saying goes, ‘follow the money,’ and that’s exactly what detectives did. They discovered that Kerr would make multiple transactions among various bank accounts, with the purpose of trying to hide his illicit earnings,” said Sheriff Grady Judd.
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The investigation uncovered that Kerr’s fraudulent activities spanned three years, during which he allegedly attempted to conceal a total of $833,478 in illegal gambling money:
- 2021: $408,878
- 2022: $289,600
- 2023: $135,000
Detectives located Kerr at his attorney’s office in Lakeland, but he declined to speak with them about the investigation.
Kerr was arrested and taken to the Sheriff’s Processing Center, where he was booked on the charges.
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