Kissimmee Mayor Jackie Espinosa was arrested Wednesday on grand theft and fraud charges, according to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. The arrest puts the Florida mayor at the center of a criminal case that her attorney says she will fight in court.

Uthmeier said Espinosa is being charged with grand theft and organized scheme to defraud. He did not immediately release additional details about the nature of the charges or the allegations underlying them.

The attorney general said on X that he planned to hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon to provide more information. Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Larry Keefe were expected to join him.

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

We will be holding a press conference at 2pm at our Orlando office with CFO Ingoglia and FDLE Commissioner Keefe to provide more information. — Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) October 21, 2026

Online jail records show that Espinosa, 58, was booked Wednesday morning into the Osceola County Jail. The records list her under her full name, Eva Jacqulyn Espinosa.

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According to those jail records, the grand theft charge involves an amount greater than $20,000 and fewer than $100,000. No further explanation of that amount or its connection to the broader allegations was provided in the initial announcement.

Espinosa’s attorney, Migdalia Perez, said the mayor “maintains her innocence.” Perez also said Espinosa and her legal team plan to challenge the allegations “vigorously in court.”

“This case involves a publicly approved grant program administered by City staff, not a secret scheme to steal taxpayer money,” Perez said in a statement to ABC News.

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The attorney’s statement directly disputed the criminal framing of the matter and focused on whether Espinosa acted with criminal intent. Perez argued that the state must prove that element rather than treat an alleged ethics issue as a crime.

“The prosecution must establish that the mayor acted with criminal intent. We firmly maintain that she did not,” Perez said.

“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,” Perez added.

The initial announcement from Uthmeier identified the two charges but left major details for the planned news conference. Those details included the specific conduct alleged and a fuller account of the state’s case against Espinosa.

Perez’s response presented a sharply different account, describing the matter as involving a grant program that had received public approval and was administered by city staff. Her statement rejected the characterization of the case as a secret effort to take taxpayer money.

The competing statements established the opening divide in the case. State authorities announced grand theft and organized scheme to defraud charges, while Espinosa’s attorney insisted that prosecutors cannot turn an alleged ethics violation into a criminal offense without meeting the required burden of proof.

Espinosa has served as mayor of Kissimmee since November 2024. Her current term is scheduled to end in 2028.

The arrest occurred while Espinosa remains the city’s mayor.

 

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