Kissimmee Mayor Jackie Espinosa Arrested on Grand Theft, Fraud Charges Over $50,000 in City COVID Relief Grants

Kissimmee Mayor Jackie Espinosa was arrested Wednesday, Oct. 21, and charged with grand theft and organized scheme to defraud in connection with the city's Kissimmee Business Boost 2.0 grant program, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced. State officials accuse Espinosa, whose legal name is Eva Jacquelyn Espinosa according to some reports, of using her office to obtain $50,000 in COVID-19 relief money for businesses she and her family own or control. She has entered a written plea of not guilty, and her attorney says she maintains her innocence.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement made the arrest, and Espinosa was booked into the Osceola County Jail. Jail records cited by NBC Miami and Spectrum News 13 showed she was being held without bond on both charges, with a first court appearance scheduled for Thursday afternoon. No report of a bond decision from that hearing was available at the time of publication.

The charges

According to reporting on the arrest warrant, Espinosa faces one count of grand theft involving $20,000 to $100,000, a second-degree felony, and one count of organized scheme to defraud involving $50,000 or more, a first-degree felony. Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said she could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Uthmeier said the evidence showed intent to engage in a conflict of interest and accused the mayor of abusing her office to enrich herself and her family, according to WMFE/Central Florida Public Media. In remarks reported by FOX 35, he said public officials do not get to write the rules for a program and then pay themselves from it. FDLE Commissioner Larry Keefe said holding officials accountable in corruption cases matters for public trust.

Ingoglia said his office uncovered the problem during a routine audit of local governments' COVID-related grant programs, when auditors noticed irregularities in Business Boost 2.0. His accounting is broader than the charged amount: he said seven businesses located in properties owned or managed by Espinosa's family received a combined $90,000, including $50,000 that went directly to her own businesses and $40,000 that went indirectly to tenants of those properties. The criminal charges announced by the attorney general focus on the $50,000.

What the arrest affidavit alleges

The Business Boost 2.0 program used federal American Rescue Plan Act money to help small businesses recover from the pandemic. Investigators allege that Espinosa, as mayor, helped establish and modify the program before businesses owned or controlled by her family received money from it, according to a 26-page arrest affidavit described in news reports.

WFTV, which reviewed the affidavit, reported these awards to Espinosa-linked businesses:

Reports have described the three as a dance production studio, a diner and a real estate company. FOX 35 reported that one of the $15,000 grants went to a business owned by Espinosa's husband and that the $20,000 award went to an LLC she owns that her family leases.

The affidavit lays out a timeline in which city staff raised concerns before the money went out. According to WFTV, Yolanda Claudio, a city employee reviewing applications, noticed three applications tied to Espinosa's businesses in September 2025. On Sept. 18, she emailed Economic Development Director David Rodriguez asking him to get verification from the city attorney, raising both whether one owner could receive grants for multiple businesses and whether the mayor's involvement created a conflict of interest. Rodriguez answered the first question but not the second, and Claudio stopped reviewing the applications until she heard back.

Rodriguez told investigators he approved the applications because no program guideline barred the mayor from applying, that checking for conflicts was her responsibility, and that he did not contact the city attorney. Former City Attorney Olga Sanchez de Fuentes told investigators her office was not consulted on the program's criteria or on the completed applications. The program did not require a conflict-of-interest form.

The applications were approved Nov. 4, 2025, and bank records show deposits on Nov. 7, the affidavit says. The three awards were among the first $255,000 distributed through the program.

On Dec. 5, 2025, Sanchez de Fuentes told Espinosa that receiving the grants created a prohibited conflict of interest, according to the affidavit. City Manager Michael Steigerwald also recommended she return the money and issue a statement. Investigators allege she declined, arguing she should qualify as a local business owner. These are allegations that have not been proven in court.

Espinosa's defense

Espinosa, who became mayor in November 2024, has maintained throughout the controversy that her businesses were eligible to apply and has denied wrongdoing. Her attorney, Migdalia Perez, filed the written not guilty plea, waived arraignment and requested evidence from prosecutors, WFTV reported. Perez described Business Boost 2.0 as a program that was "publicly approved" and "administered by City staff," argued that an alleged ethics violation is not the same as a crime, and noted prosecutors must prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt. She said Espinosa will challenge the allegations in court and did not act with criminal intent.

In earlier responses to the special prosecutor, Espinosa said the grants were meant to help businesses survive COVID, that she was not a public official during the pandemic, and that she was not warned she could not accept the funds until after the money was received, according to FOX 35's summary of that report.

A year of ethics fights at City Hall

The arrest follows months of turmoil over the same grants. In July, a court-appointed special prosecutor reviewing a seven-part complaint found clear probable cause on three allegations and recommended that the city commission pursue articles of impeachment, also suggesting the city consider a referral to law enforcement. That report alleged no conflict-of-interest screening was done and that the grants were accepted against the advice of city staff and the city attorney.

On Aug. 18, the Kissimmee City Commission split 2-2 on moving forward. Because the process required a supermajority, the articles were not accepted and no further action was taken under them.

On Sept. 2, the Florida Commission on Ethics announced that it had found probable cause that Espinosa violated state ethics law by maintaining a prohibited contractual relationship with an entity doing business with the city, tied to grant money her business received. The commission stressed that probable cause is not a finding that a violation occurred; that question goes to a full evidentiary hearing. If a violation is ultimately found, penalties range from public reprimand to removal from office, with civil fines of up to $20,000 per violation. In a separate complaint, the commission found no probable cause that she failed to disclose a gift worth more than $100, concluding she had reported it on the wrong form on the city attorney's advice.

How Kissimmee is responding

The city and the Kissimmee Police Department deferred questions about the arrest to FDLE. The city said operations will continue as normal and that it has opened its own internal investigation into Business Boost 2.0, FOX 35 reported.

Vice Mayor Angela Eady will preside over commission meetings and ceremonial events while Espinosa is absent. Under the city's rules, Espinosa keeps her seat on the commission unless she is suspended, removed or resigns. As of Thursday, there was no public report that Gov. Ron DeSantis had moved to suspend her, and WFTV reported that the city had not invoked its succession process.

What's next

The immediate question is whether a judge sets bond at Espinosa's first appearance in Osceola County. The criminal case will then proceed through discovery, which her attorney has already requested. Separately, the state ethics case remains pending an evidentiary hearing, and the city's internal review of the grant program is underway. Any action on her office, whether a suspension by the governor or a resignation, would determine who leads Kissimmee while the case is pending. Espinosa is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.