KISSIMMEE, Florida — Kissimmee Mayor Jackie Espinosa was arrested on Wednesday, October 21, and charged with grand theft and an organized scheme to defraud, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia announced. The arrest followed a joint investigation by the Department of Financial Services Criminal Investigations Division and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement into the awarding of COVID-19 grant funds.
Source: Florida Department of Financial Services
State officials allege that Espinosa used her position to push the city's Business Boost 2.0 grant program, voted to approve and expand it, and then took $50,000 from it for her family's businesses after being warned that doing so was prohibited, according to the Attorney General. “Public officials do not get to write the rules and then write themselves a check,” Uthmeier said.
Source: Florida Department of Financial Services
At an afternoon news conference in Orlando, Ingoglia said his office found the alleged irregularities while auditing COVID-19 grant programs run by local governments. He said seven businesses at properties owned or managed by Espinosa's family received a combined $90,000 through Business Boost 2.0 — $50,000 to family businesses and another $40,000 to tenants — and that investigators determined Espinosa herself submitted applications on behalf of her family's businesses. Ingoglia also said people inside the mayor's own office had warned her against applying.
Source: WFTS Tampa Bay 28
Espinosa, 58, was booked into the Osceola County Jail on Wednesday morning under her full name, Eva Jacquelyn Espinosa, ABC News reported, citing online jail records. The grand theft charge involves an amount greater than $20,000 and less than $100,000, according to those records.
Source: ABC News
Espinosa's attorney, Migdalia Perez, said the mayor “maintains her innocence” and that they plan to challenge the allegations vigorously in court. “This case involves a publicly approved grant program administered by City staff, not a secret scheme to steal taxpayer money,” Perez said, arguing that the prosecution must prove criminal intent and that an alleged ethics violation is not the same as a crime.
Source: ABC News
Espinosa has served as Kissimmee's mayor since November 2024 and her term runs to 2028. An arrest and criminal charges do not establish guilt, and she is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. Asked whether Governor Ron DeSantis could act on her position as mayor, Uthmeier said he had not spoken with the governor since the arrest, WFTS reported.
Source: WFTS Tampa Bay 28