Charges include grand theft and "Organized Scheme to Defraud"
The Osceola County Jail released Kissimmee Mayor Jackie Espinosa's mug shot late Wednesday morning. (Photo/Osceola County Jail)
Kissimmee mayor Jackie Espinosa was arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Wednesday morning, per a statement from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
According to media reports, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on a residential street off Neptune Road, detained and handcuffed her. Jail records show she's been booked into the Osceola County Jail on two felony counts.
"This morning, we arrested Kissimmee mayor Jackie Espinosa and are charging her with Grand Theft and Organized Scheme to Defraud," he posted on X/Twitter at 9:05 a.m.
He announced a press conference at 2 p.m. at the FDLE Orlando Office will be held with CFO Blaise Ingoglia and FDLE Commissioner Larry Keefe to provide more information. Ingoglia's office released a statement Wednesday morning.
"I am proud of the diligent work that my auditing team and Criminal Investigations Division did to identify the alleged misuse of taxpayer dollars and to ensure that Jackie Espinosa’s corruption did not go without recourse for the people of Kissimmee. I also applaud FDLE’s work to further investigate this case, and the AG and his team for bringing charges against Espinosa. Public service should never be self-service, and Jackie Espinosa will now have to answer for taking from the taxpayers. More to come at 2 p.m.”
Should Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was in Orlando for a Tuesday press conference and is scheduled to be at an event in Miami at 3 p.m. Wednesday, choose to suspend the mayor from office, Vice Mayor Angela Eady, who missed the city's Commission meeting Tuesday with an illness, would become acting mayor. Reached Wednesday morning, she said she was waiting for word from the city on the next steps, as Commissioner Carlos Alvarez has also been absent with an illness, and Commissioner Noel Ortiz had left earlier in the morning on a city trip to Mexico.
City Manager Mike Steigerwald said in a text that the city had not been notified that Espinosa had been suspended or removed. Commissioner Janette Martinez said Wednesday that the city was discussing a potential special meeting early next week, when at least Ortiz would be back.
Espinosa, 58, has been the subject of several state investigations over the course of 2026, mostly tied to three downtown Kissimmee companies her family operates receiving $50,000 in federal COVID-19 pandemic recovery funds through the "Business Boost 2.0" program approved by city commissioners, including Espinosa, in 2025.
The Florida Commission on Ethics is scheduled to meet on Friday at 8:30 a.m. in Tallahassee to approve a recommendation of action against Espinosa. The Commission, after determining in August that it found probable cause she violated state statute by conducting city business with her own companies, had suggested a civil fine of $2,000 and public censure and reprimand.
In an interview with the News-Gazette in February Espinosa, who was elected to office in November 2024, maintained the the federal funds had been in the city’s hands since 2022, and said her motion to terminate former city attorney City Attorney Olga Sanchez de Fuentes, which passed on Feb. 3, was not related to the attorney’s questioning the grant among other city officials.
"Of course it’s going to look bad, until you explain the particulars," she said in the interview.
At an Aug. 18 City Commission meeting, Special Prosecutor Mayanne Downs presented the City Commission with her findings that Espinosa violated city ethics codes by voting to create and fund program while the three businesses tied to her and her family benefit from it. While Downs recommended that the city could hold impeachment proceedings and to refer the matter to the FDLE, only two of the other four commissioners voted to do that. Lacking three votes, that also ended the city’s role in the matter.
Kissimmee attorney Migdalia Perez, who represented Espinosa in the ethics case and at that special meeting, said she'll be representing the mayor regarding the FDLE charges, and was on her way to the jail midday Wednesday.
The News-Gazette is assembling information. Check back as details emerge.
