Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Wednesday that Kissimmee Mayor Jackie Espinosa had been arrested and charged with grand theft and an organized scheme to defraud, escalating a months-long controversy over the mayor’s handling of taxpayer-funded grants.

Uthmeier announced the arrest in a social media post, saying state authorities had taken Espinosa into custody that morning. Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Keefe were scheduled to join Uthmeier for a 2 p.m. news conference at the attorney general’s Orlando office to provide additional details.

A neighbor’s Ring camera footage captured a substantial law enforcement presence in Espinosa’s neighborhood Wednesday morning, according to local reporting.

Ingoglia praised the investigators involved in the case, saying his office’s auditing team and Criminal Investigations Division had identified what he described as the alleged misuse of taxpayer money. He also credited FDLE and the attorney general’s office for pursuing the case.

“Public service should never be self-service, and Jackie Espinosa will now have to answer for taking from the taxpayers,” Ingoglia said, adding that more information would be released at the afternoon news conference.

Espinosa’s attorney, Migdalia Perez, pushed back against the charges, maintaining that her client had committed no crime and arguing that the case involved an openly approved municipal grant program rather than a scheme to steal public funds.

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

The attorney argued that prosecutors must establish criminal intent and distinguish alleged ethical violations from criminal conduct. She said the defense intends to challenge the allegations in court and stressed that Espinosa is entitled to the presumption of innocence.

“The State cannot transform one into the other without proving every element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt,” Perez said, referring to the distinction between an ethics violation and a criminal offense.

The arrest follows months of scrutiny surrounding approximately $50,000 in city-administered COVID-19 relief grants awarded to businesses linked to Espinosa and her family. The controversy centered on whether the mayor improperly benefited from public funds through the grant program.

In September, the Florida Commission on Ethics censured Espinosa and recommended a $2,000 fine following its investigation into the grants. The ethics proceedings added to pressure on the mayor over questions about her financial interests and disclosures.

Espinosa had also faced an impeachment effort at the local level. In August, Kissimmee city commissioners deadlocked in a 2-2 vote on whether to advance the matter to an impeachment trial, allowing her to avoid that proceeding at the time.

Wednesday’s arrest moves the controversy into the criminal justice system, where prosecutors will have to prove the charges against her. The earlier ethics findings and political proceedings provide background to the case, but they do not by themselves establish that she committed the newly alleged crimes.

The attorney general’s news conference is expected to shed further light on the investigation, including the specific allegations supporting the grand theft and organized scheme to defraud charges.