BUENA VENTURA LAKES, Fla. — A former Kissimmee commissioner was booked into the Osceola County Jail on eight counts of willful certification of false or incomplete campaign treasure reports and six counts of deliberate failure to report campaign expenditures as required, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Monday. 

FDLE officials say the department started an investigation last year after receiving an allegation that Carlos Irizarry Sr., 67, was paid to enter the 2022 District 4 Osceola County Commissioner’s race to affect its outcome. 

Jackie Espinosa, another candidate in that race, filed a lawsuit in September, accusing Irizarry of being paid to run to split the Hispanic vote in that race. That case was dismissed by an Osceola County judge. Incumbent Cheryl Greib was re-elected.

According to FDLE inspectors, they compared bank records to treasurer reports from Irizarry’s 2022 campaign for the Osceola commission seat and identified a pattern of providing false information, arrest records said.

Irizarry allegedly reported false campaign expenditures and lied about charitable donations made by the campaign, FDLE inspectors said in arrest records.

The investigation is ongoing.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution will prosecute the case.