A Florida woman asked someone she knew through the local Public Defender’s Office to help manage her affairs while she was incarcerated.
Over the months that followed, Sarasota Police say that access was used for credit-card payments, purchases, transfers, and withdrawals that ultimately cost the woman nearly $65,000.
The Sarasota Police Department announced Monday that 48-year-old Jessica Elizabeth McVay had been arrested Sept. 23.
McVay worked as a Veterans Affairs Coordinator for the Public Defender’s Office in Florida’s 12th Judicial Circuit.
The Access
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The woman told Sarasota Police she knew McVay through the Public Defender’s Office and veterans’ meetings. When she was arrested in August 2025 and jailed in Manatee County, she asked McVay to help manage her affairs.
That gave McVay access to her financial information and credit cards. The woman later told police McVay was the only person with access to the cards while she was incarcerated and that she had never authorized McVay to use them for personal purchases.
By Aug. 18, 2026, when the woman reported the activity to Sarasota Police, she estimated that approximately $64,923.85 had moved through transactions she did not authorize. Subpoenas to banks, credit-card companies and payment services allowed police to trace portions of that money.
Following the Money
According to the probable-cause affidavit, two payments totaling $1,094.57 went to a Merrick Bank card issued solely in McVay’s name. Two Continental Finance cards received another $5,155.68, a Seen Finance account received $643.95, and records from WebBank/Imagine Visa showed nine payments totaling $3,500.43.
The larger movement came in July 2026, when $50,000 was transferred from the woman’s certificate of deposit into her checking account. The affidavit says approximately $17,000 then went to McVay through Zelle transfers, while another $16,000 was withdrawn from ATMs in the Palmetto area.
The woman was still incarcerated at the time. Her bank statements also showed retail purchases and other activity she later told police she had not authorized, with the transactions stretching from November 2025 through July 2026.
A Different Arrangement
In July, the woman also asked McVay to retain an attorney for her. The lawyer was expected to cost $15,000, and McVay allegedly told her she would need power of attorney to handle the arrangement.
McVay later went to the Manatee County jail with a notary, where the woman signed the document. She told Sarasota Police she was not given a copy and believed McVay was arranging the legal representation she had requested.
The attorney was never hired, according to the affidavit. Police said McVay instead “repaid” herself for the retainer.
When Detective Ridge Collins later reviewed the power of attorney, he wrote that nothing in the document authorized McVay to use the woman’s money for her own personal benefit.
The Case Moves Forward
The woman was released from jail Aug. 13 and met McVay the following morning to collect her belongings. During that meeting, police say McVay told her she had paid $100,000 to witnesses so they would not appear in court and claimed that was why the woman had been released.
The woman received her bank statements the next day. As she reviewed the months she had spent incarcerated, she found charges and transfers she said she had not authorized and reported the activity to Sarasota Police on Aug. 18.
Collins contacted McVay on Sept. 2. She said she had retained attorney Catherine Henry, who later told police that McVay would not provide a statement. Henry supplied a copy of the power of attorney, while the affidavit says requests for receipts and explanations for the disputed transactions received no response.
Sarasota Police later obtained an arrest warrant listing five charges: grand theft involving between $20,000 and $100,000; criminal use of personal identification information involving more than $5,000; unauthorized use of a credit card involving more than $300; scheme to defraud involving more than $50,000; and communications fraud involving more than $300.
Manatee County jail records show McVay was booked Sept. 23 and released Sept. 25. Her Sarasota County criminal case remains open, with a felony arraignment scheduled for Oct. 30.
Sarasota Police said there may be additional victims. Anyone who believes they were victimized by McVay, or who worked with her and has information that could assist the investigation, is asked to contact Detective Ridge Collins at 941-263-6076.
All parties are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.