Ex Miami-Dade school board member Lubby Navarro pleads guilty to fraud, sentenced to prison
By Natalie La Roche Pietri
April 14, 2026 at 12:48 PM EDT
This is a breaking news story. Updates to come.
Former Miami-Dade County school board member Lubby Navarro was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to using up to $100,000 in district funds for personal, and often luxurious, expenses.
Navarro was arrested in 2024 and charged with organized fraud and grand theft. Prosecutors allege that she used a district credit card for extravagant personal purchases — like vacations and shopping sprees — for herself and others.
On Tuesday, she entered a guilty plea to one count of grand theft and was sentenced to 14 months in prison. After completing that time, Navarro will be under probation for three years and prohibited from serving in public office. She also has to pay back the money she snagged.
In court, Navarro apologized to the students of Miami-Dade County Public Schools and her colleagues on the board. The public apology was a condition of the plea agreement.
"It is a day that I never thought would be coming in my life,” Navarro said, according to the Miami Herald. "...I just accepted full responsibility for my actions in this case.”
READ MORE: Investigators: Former school board member charged $100,000 to district credit cards for personal use
According to the investigation led by the office of Miami-Dade Inspector General Felix Jimenez and the office of the county's State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Navarro went undetected by “doctoring” receipts, whiting-out her name and explaining away the purchases to district staff.
In a statement, Navarro's lawyer, Benedict Kuehne, said Navarro accepts responsibility for harming the education of Miami-Dade County's students.
"She understands that, at a time of severe personal stress in her life and her family, she made very bad decisions that undermined her lifetime of service to the public and her many good works," the statement reads. It described the stealing of the funds as "coping mechanisms" and that now "she is suffering the consequences of her bad decisions."
"She humbly asks the community to understand her lifetime of good works, and allow her to return to a life of doing good for others when she completes her sentence."
Navarro made a restitution payment on Tuesday of $5,000 to the school board. Sixty days after she gets released from prison, she will be required to start making payments of at least $500 per month until the full amount of $101,109.47 is paid back.
Former Miami-Dade School Board member Lubby Navarro is taken into custody after her plea hearing at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in Miami, Fla. Navarro pleaded guilty to spending up to $100,000 of district funds while in office. (960x604, AR: 1.5894039735099337)
The alleged purchases included clothes, home appliances and beauty products, as well as trips to the Dominican Republic, Las Vegas and Disney World.
Navarro, who was appointed to the school board in 2015 by then-Governor Rick Scott, got away with the alleged misuse of public funds, investigators say, right up until she resigned her seat on the board in December 2022.
"Public officials are in positions of authority and trust to ensure the safety and the quality of life for those who live in our community, not to utilize public monies for their personal benefit," said Fernandez Rundle in a statement.
Inspector General Jimenez also condemned Navarro's actions and said the case is an example of holding public servants who violate public trust to account. The sentencing underscored the gravity of what the Inspector General's investigation found, he said.
"I am pleased to note that in response to this matter, the School Board moved swiftly to implement strengthened financial controls, enhanced oversight of purchasing and travel card usage, and improved auditing procedures to prevent similar abuses of public resources," Jimenez said in a statement.
Former Miami-Dade County school board member Lubby Navarro was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to using up to $100,000 in district funds for personal, and often luxurious, expenses.
Navarro was arrested in 2024 and charged with organized fraud and grand theft. Prosecutors allege that she used a district credit card for extravagant personal purchases — like vacations and shopping sprees — for herself and others.
On Tuesday, she entered a guilty plea to one count of grand theft and was sentenced to 14 months in prison. After completing that time, Navarro will be under probation for three years and prohibited from serving in public office. She also has to pay back the money she snagged.
In court, Navarro apologized to the students of Miami-Dade County Public Schools and her colleagues on the board. The public apology was a condition of the plea agreement.
"It is a day that I never thought would be coming in my life,” Navarro said, according to the Miami Herald. "...I just accepted full responsibility for my actions in this case.”
READ MORE: Investigators: Former school board member charged $100,000 to district credit cards for personal use
According to the investigation led by the office of Miami-Dade Inspector General Felix Jimenez and the office of the county's State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Navarro went undetected by “doctoring” receipts, whiting-out her name and explaining away the purchases to district staff.
In a statement, Navarro's lawyer, Benedict Kuehne, said Navarro accepts responsibility for harming the education of Miami-Dade County's students.
"She understands that, at a time of severe personal stress in her life and her family, she made very bad decisions that undermined her lifetime of service to the public and her many good works," the statement reads. It described the stealing of the funds as "coping mechanisms" and that now "she is suffering the consequences of her bad decisions."
"She humbly asks the community to understand her lifetime of good works, and allow her to return to a life of doing good for others when she completes her sentence."
Navarro made a restitution payment on Tuesday of $5,000 to the school board. Sixty days after she gets released from prison, she will be required to start making payments of at least $500 per month until the full amount of $101,109.47 is paid back.
Former Miami-Dade School Board member Lubby Navarro is taken into custody after her plea hearing at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in Miami, Fla. Navarro pleaded guilty to spending up to $100,000 of district funds while in office. (960x604, AR: 1.5894039735099337)
The alleged purchases included clothes, home appliances and beauty products, as well as trips to the Dominican Republic, Las Vegas and Disney World.
Navarro, who was appointed to the school board in 2015 by then-Governor Rick Scott, got away with the alleged misuse of public funds, investigators say, right up until she resigned her seat on the board in December 2022.
"Public officials are in positions of authority and trust to ensure the safety and the quality of life for those who live in our community, not to utilize public monies for their personal benefit," said Fernandez Rundle in a statement.
Inspector General Jimenez also condemned Navarro's actions and said the case is an example of holding public servants who violate public trust to account. The sentencing underscored the gravity of what the Inspector General's investigation found, he said.
"I am pleased to note that in response to this matter, the School Board moved swiftly to implement strengthened financial controls, enhanced oversight of purchasing and travel card usage, and improved auditing procedures to prevent similar abuses of public resources," Jimenez said in a statement.