Puerto Rican mayor of Kissimmee, Florida, arrested for theft and fraud with federal funds
Kissimmee, Florida — The mayor of Kissimmee, Puerto Rican Jackie Espinosa, was arrested on Wednesday after being charged with grand theft and participation in an organized scheme to defraud, charges that could expose her to up to 30 years in prison if convicted, El Nuevo Día reported.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and the state's chief financial officer, Blaise Ingoglia, announced the arrest and detailed that the charges are based on three businesses owned by the mayor or her husband receiving $50,000 from the municipal Business Boost 2.0 program, funded with federal money to mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic.
The arrest warrant charges Espinosa with one count of grand theft, a second-degree felony, and one count of an «organized scheme to defraud» of $50,000, a first-degree felony. According to prosecutors, the mayor, elected in 2024, controlled the process she applied to and did not disclose that the requested funds were for her businesses or her husband's.
Special prosecutor Mayanne Downs's report, which first investigated the case, details that Espinosa's company Adanse LLC received a $20,000 grant; another of her companies, Kissimmee Diner Inc., obtained $15,000; and The Real Estate Gallery LLC, owned by her husband, received $15,000. The applications were submitted on the same day in September 2025, were among the first to arrive, and the money was deposited into accounts linked to the Espinosa family on November 7, 2025.
«When you are part of a government program handing out money and then fill out multiple applications to receive that money, it is pretty hard to say you didn't know what you were doing,» said Uthmeier, a Republican running for reelection on November 3. The charging document also indicates that the city's legal advisor warned Espinosa on December 5, 2025, that accepting the funds constituted a conflict of interest.
Espinosa, born in New Jersey to Puerto Rican parents and owner of the Matador restaurant and the Plaza Espinosa office building, had survived a removal process in the City Council and still faces a pending investigation by the Florida Commission on Ethics, which already found probable cause of a conflict of interest. Her attorney, Migdalia Pérez, has insisted the case involves, at most, ethical lapses — not criminal conduct.
Photo: El Nuevo Día
Source: El Nuevo Día