Former Tallahassee Housing Official Pleads Guilty to Stealing Nearly $379,000 in Housing Assistance

A former Tallahassee Housing Authority manager has admitted in federal court to stealing nearly $379,000 through a scheme that prosecutors say used the identities of former tenants to divert housing assistance payments. Lekishaann Huggins, 45, of Tallahassee pleaded guilty to 39 counts of bank fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and four counts of spending money laundering, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida announced on Nov. 2.

Huggins worked as a Housing Choice Voucher manager for the Tallahassee Housing Authority during 2023 and 2024. Prosecutors say she used the names and profiles of 16 former tenants to generate 40 fraudulent payments totaling approximately $378,927. The payments were supposedly to cover rent but instead went to a company controlled by Huggins, according to court documents. The housing authority alerted law enforcement in January 2025 after finding suspicious entries in its internal tracking systems.

"This fraudster pocketed federal funds intended to provide housing assistance to low-income citizens to instead throw herself a lavish holiday party and purchase jewelry, designer purses, and other luxury items using your taxpayer dollars," U.S. Attorney Jack Heekin said. The indictment said the money also went to vacations and luxury apparel, including a celebrity chef catering a private Christmas party; the chef's identity was never released. Investigators also determined Huggins filed false tax returns in 2023 and 2024 and falsified forms, prosecutors said, and as part of her plea she agreed to forfeit jewelry, clothing and accessories seized during the investigation.

Huggins faces up to 30 years in prison on each bank fraud count and up to 10 years on each spending money laundering count, and the aggravated identity theft conviction carries an additional two-year term that must run consecutively to any other imprisonment, according to the release. She also faces restitution and asset forfeiture. Her sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 12, 2027, before Chief U.S. District Judge Allen C. Winsor in Tallahassee.