Lubby Navarro pleads guilty to stealing $100K from school district, off to prison
A former Miami-Dade School Board member will serve more than one year in state prison after pleading guilty Tuesday morning to spending up to $100,000 on her district-issued credit cards for luxury trips, secret tracking devices and fake pregnancy bellies.
Lubby Navarro, 50, had a neutral expression as she entered a guilty plea to one count of grand theft. Following her prison sentence, Navarro will have to complete three years of probation, during which she is barred from serving in public office. She must also pay back the entirety of the fleeced funds, or about $101,000.
As a condition of the plea agreement, Navarro had to make a public apology before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Miguel De la O. Navarro addressed students, the community and her school board colleagues.
“It is a day that I never thought would be coming in my life,” Navarro said. “…I just accepted full responsibility for my actions in this case.”
However, moments after the apology, Navarro used yellow file folders to conceal the silver handcuffs that corrections officers placed on her wrists.
Navarro served on the School Board since 2015 and was briefly elected vice chair shortly before her resignation in 2022. She was arrested in 2024 following a months-long investigation into her using district-issued credit cards to support her lifestyle.
Shopping sprees, Vegas trip
Investigators found she used the credit cards to spend just over $92,000 on items from Walmart, Home Depot, Brandsmart, even GoDaddy and TJ Maxx. And, investigators said, she spent an additional $9,000 on travel, taking her mother to the Dominican Republic and staying at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel with her boyfriend.
In a statement after the hearing, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle thanked public corruption prosecutors and investigators for “ensuring that our government operates for the people of Miami-Dade County, not for the financial benefit of those holding office or position.”
“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,” Fernandez Rundle said.
Outside the courtroom, Navarro’s attorney Ben Kuehne said Navarro accepted her wrongdoing and “started the path to rehabilitation.” Kuehne urged the community to look at Navarro’s entire life and “see that she is a good, decent person who deserves an opportunity to serve in the future.”
“She is now correcting that error,” Kuehne said.
Where did the district funds go?
Navarro, investigators say, used the cards for shopping trips at major retailers, as well as for travel, including a stay at a luxury Las Vegas hotel and a trip to the Dominican Republic. Some of the expenses, they allege, benefited not just Navarro, but also people close to her, including her boyfriend.
Among those purchases were appliances and equipment that ended up at her then-boyfriend’s Shook Market and Juice Bar near Hollywood, as well as a series of personal items that raised further questions.
Perhaps most striking were allegations that Navarro bought two silicone and cotton fake pregnancy bellies from Amazon that she used to try and convince her boyfriend she was carrying his baby, according to state investigators. She also bought tracking devices that she affixed on his car to monitor his movements.
The investigation began after Navarro resigned from the School Board in late 2022. When expense reports for her final month were reviewed, discrepancies surfaced, prompting a deeper audit. Investigators later said some records appeared to have been altered with White Out or obscured, allowing the spending to go unnoticed for months.
Navarro’s original arrest warrant stretched 98 pages.
“The misuse of public funds is a fundamental breach of the trust placed in those who serve our school district. The sentencing in this case demonstrates that such violations will be met with accountability,” said Felix Jimenez, inspector general for Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
Navarro was a registered lobbyist for the South Broward Hospital District, which includes Memorial Healthcare System hospitals in Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Miramar and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood. She earned upwards of $220,000. Memorial terminated her in February 2024, about a month after she was arrested.
This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 11:55 AM.
