Authorities finally may have run the so-called Ocean Paradise Villa out of business.

Marcia Turner-Workman, 45, was arrested Thursday, accused of stealing more than $63,000 from nine unwitting families who booked vacations at the Long Key home where Turner-Workman held a lease. She was charged with nine counts of larceny, each a third-degree felony that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

The arrest is a major step in an investigation that has continued in fits and jerks since at least February 2007, when Monroe County Code Enforcement slapped a no-occupancy order on the house due to its uninhabitable condition. The property was padlocked under court order in April 2007, but Turner-Workman continued to take reservations and collect deposits, authorities say. She also continued to advertise the house online, calling it a luxury vacation rental costing between $5,000 and $9,000 per week.

Several would-be renters of the home at 65890 Overseas Highway have shared their stories with The Citizen, which first reported on the home in summer 2007.

"We're very happy that she's not still victimizing people," said Linda Mumm, an Iowa resident who had to find other accommodations for 13 people upon arriving at Ocean Paradise Villa for a family vacation in January 2008. "Especially when you're booking long distance, it makes it very difficult and you kind of have to rely on people's good faith, and obviously they didn't have any."

Linda and Noel Mumm, who had read about the house online, sent a $2,100 check for a deposit, which Turner-Workman did not return, the arrest affidavit says. Theirs was a typical story.

Allegations against Turner-Workman date back as far as 2004, when Ross Weeks, a police officer from Jacksonville, spent $7,000 to rent the home for a week, only to find it trashed, he told The Citizen in 2007, providing photographs to support his claim. The charges against Turner-Workman, however, relate only to complaints filed after the county issued the no-occupancy order.

Authorities initially said they would not pursue the case, calling it a civil matter covered under contract law. But beginning last year, they gradually began cracking down on Turner-Workman and Ocean Paradise Villa.

In April 2008, a special magistrate ordered her to pay $40,000 for operating the home without a license. In September 2008, the courts ordered that all online advertisements be removed from the Internet. In February, the Florida Department of Revenue charged Turner-Workman with failing to remit sales taxes -- a charge that carries up to five years in prison.

Assistant State Attorney Patrick McCullah said the investigation, conducted jointly with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Monroe County Sheriff's Office, has been a long affair.

"It takes time," he said. "This investigation has been ongoing through this entire period."

And it's still ongoing, sheriff's spokeswoman Becky Herrin said.

In renting the property, Turner-Workman worked with her husband, Denny Workman, and an assistant, Steven Huffman, according to sheriff's reports, the arrest affidavit, interviews and correspondence. They have not been charged.

Turner-Workman on Friday remained in the Stock Island jail in lieu of $75,000 bail.

rsilk@keysnews.com