Kissimmee Mayor Jackie Espinosa was arrested Wednesday morning after Florida investigators accused her of using her position to help secure $50,000 in public grants for businesses connected to her family.
The October 21 arrest followed an investigation into the city’s Business Boost 2.0 program, which provided federal pandemic relief funding to struggling small businesses. During a Wednesday afternoon press conference in Orlando, state officials revealed that seven businesses operating in properties owned or managed by Espinosa’s family received a combined $90,000 through the program.
According to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office, Espinosa allegedly helped shape the grant program before she and immediate family members applied for funding.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said $50,000 went to three businesses associated with Espinosa and her relatives. Another $40,000 was distributed to four tenant businesses operating in properties connected to the family.
Investigators allege the mayor participated in decisions to establish and expand Business Boost 2.0 while working to simplify applications and limit oversight. Prosecutors believe those changes helped create opportunities for her family to obtain money they were not entitled to receive.
The state alleges that Espinosa and her relatives submitted applications totaling $50,000 on the same day the program opened in September 2025.
According to WFTV’s reporting on the criminal investigation, the applications were approved, and the money was deposited into accounts linked to the Espinosa family on November 7, 2025. Investigators said banking records confirmed the transactions.
Questions about the grants intensified the following month.
On December 5, 2025, Kissimmee’s city attorney informed Espinosa that accepting the money constituted a prohibited conflict of interest and advised her to return it. State investigators allege she refused to repay the funds and took no corrective action.
“Public officials do not get to write the rules and then write themselves a check,” Uthmeier said in a statement announcing the arrest.
Espinosa now faces one count of second-degree grand theft involving more than $20,000 but less than $100,000, along with one count of first-degree organized scheme to defraud involving $50,000 or more.
Florida authorities said an examination of pandemic relief spending uncovered irregularities in the grant awards. The findings prompted additional investigative work involving the Florida Department of Financial Services and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The $90,000 identified by officials includes both grants awarded directly to family businesses and separate grants received by tenants of properties associated with the family. The criminal allegations against Espinosa center on the $50,000 awarded to businesses she or her relatives owned or controlled.
The controversy surrounding the Kissimmee mayor began months before her arrest.
According to News 6, a special prosecutor’s earlier investigation identified three businesses connected to Espinosa or her family that received a combined $50,000.
Records examined during that investigation identified Adanse LLC, a company owned by Espinosa, as receiving $20,000. Kissimmee Diner Inc., where she held an ownership interest and served as vice president, received $15,000. A third family-operated business was awarded another $15,000.
Court-appointed special prosecutor Mayanne Downs determined there was probable cause to pursue impeachment proceedings based on three of seven alleged ethics violations.
However, an August vote by Kissimmee city commissioners ended in a 2 to 2 deadlock, preventing the proposed impeachment trial from moving forward.
The Florida Commission on Ethics subsequently censured Espinosa in September and recommended a $2,000 fine.
Despite the previous investigations, Espinosa and her legal team continue to dispute allegations that she committed a crime.
Her attorney, Migdalia Perez, told ABC News that the mayor maintains her innocence and intends to fight the charges.
Perez argued that the grants came through a publicly approved program administered by city employees rather than a concealed effort to steal taxpayer money. She also challenged the suggestion that an alleged ethics violation automatically establishes criminal conduct.
“There is a fundamental difference between an alleged ethics violation and a criminal offense,” Perez said.
The attorney maintained that prosecutors must establish criminal intent beyond a reasonable doubt, something the defense insists cannot be proven.
The program’s written guidelines at the time did not expressly prohibit elected officials from applying. Prosecutors nevertheless argue that Espinosa’s involvement in shaping the program and obtaining the grants amounted to criminal wrongdoing.
Espinosa, who became Kissimmee’s mayor in November 2024, was booked into the Osceola County Jail following her arrest. The charges remain allegations, and she is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
