Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Wednesday announced the arrest of Kissimmee Mayor Jackie Espinosa.

“This morning, we arrested Kissimmee mayor Jackie Espinosa and are charging her with Grand Theft and Organized Scheme to Defraud,” Uthmeier said.

“We will be holding a press conference at 2pm at our Orlando office with CFO Ingoglia and FDLE Commissioner Keefe to provide more information,” he added.

USA TODAY shared further:

Details about what transpired were not immediately provided by the prosecutor, but Florida Today, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported Espinosa had been facing possible removal from office after a prosecutor recommended city commissioners pursue articles of impeachment over allegations she improperly benefited from a COVID-19 business grant program.

The mayor is accused of spearheading $50,000 in COVID-19 relief funds to businesses tied to her family, the newspaper reported.

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“This morning my team, along with @fdlepio, arrested the Mayor of Kissimmee for abusing her office for personal gain,” Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia commented.

“I am proud of the outstanding work that my auditing team and Criminal Investigations Division did to uncover the alleged misuse of taxpayer dollars and to ensure that Jackie Espinosa’s corruption did not go without recourse,” he continued.

“My office represents Mayor Espinosa and what I can tell you at this juncture is that Mayor Espinosa maintains her innocence. This case involves a publicly approved grant program administered by City staff, not a secret scheme to steal taxpayer money,” a statement from Espinosa’s lawyer read.

“The prosecution must establish that the mayor acted with criminal intent. We firmly maintain that she did not. There is a fundamental difference between an alleged ethics violation and a criminal offense. The State cannot transform one into the other without proving every element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt,” the statement continued.

“We intend to challenge these allegations vigorously in court. Mayor Espinosa deserves the presumption of innocence, not a presumption of guilt because she has been arrested,” it added.

FOX 13 Tampa Bay noted:

In August, the Kissimmee City Commission voted against moving forward with articles of impeachment against the mayor.

It’s unclear if Espinosa’s arrest is connected to previous allegations.

 

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