KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Florida law enforcement authorities arrested Kissimmee Mayor Jackie Espinosa on Wednesday on felony charges of grand theft and organized scheme to defraud, alleging she improperly steered pandemic relief grant money to businesses tied to her and her family.
Attorney General James Uthmeier, flanked by state financial and law enforcement leaders at an afternoon news conference in Orlando, announced the charges following a multi-agency probe. If convicted on both counts, Espinosa faces up to 30 years in state prison.
Allegations over small business relief grants
According to state investigators, the charges center on Espinosa’s involvement in the Kissimmee Business Boost 2.0 initiative, a program established with federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars to help local merchants recover from COVID-19 pandemic disruptions. Investigators said the mayor advocated for creating the fund, which replaced an earlier proposal to allocate nearly $1 million toward a local community center.
State officials reported that on the day applications opened in September 2025, Espinosa filed requests seeking $50,000 across three firms controlled by her or her husband. Those included $20,000 awarded to Adanse LLC and $15,000 disbursements to both The Real Estate Gallery LLC and Kissimmee Diner Inc., which operated under the name Matador Tacos and Tapas.
Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia noted that a Department of Financial Services audit found an additional $40,000 went to commercial tenants operating within properties owned or managed by the Espinosa family, bringing total funds linked to her properties to $90,000.
Court records show the city attorney alerted Espinosa in December 2025 that accepting the grant money presented a conflict of interest and advised returning the payments. Prosecutors noted that she did not repay the funds and instead backed an effort to dismiss the city attorney.
Defense maintains innocence
Espinosa, 58, was booked into the Osceola County Jail ahead of an initial court appearance scheduled for Thursday. Court records indicate she submitted a plea of not guilty.
Her attorney, Migdalia Perez, said in a written statement that the grants were distributed through an open municipal program rather than a covert scheme, arguing the dispute does not constitute criminal misconduct.
“The prosecution must establish that the mayor acted with criminal intent. We firmly maintain that she did not,” Perez said, adding that her team plans to contest the charges vigorously.
The arrest follows months of political scrutiny inside City Hall. Over the summer, a special prosecutor recommended impeachment proceedings, but the Kissimmee City Commission deadlocked 2-2 in August, failing to reach the three-vote threshold required to proceed to a trial. The Florida Commission on Ethics also found probable cause of civil ethics violations and scheduled a formal reprimand and a $2,000 fine for consideration this week.
City operations and pending actions
In response to the arrest, the City of Kissimmee announced that Vice Mayor Angela Eady has stepped in to handle mayoral responsibilities. City Manager Mike Steigerwald authorized an internal inquiry into how administrators handled the Business Boost 2.0 program and whether municipal procedures provided sufficient oversight.
The criminal case will be handled by the Office of Statewide Prosecution in the 13th Judicial Circuit. As of Thursday morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis had not yet issued an executive order formally suspending Espinosa from elected office, though state law permits the governor to remove arrested officials pending the outcome of criminal proceedings.
