She is the daughter of former state representative Ralph Acosta and the first Latina elected to the Pennsylvania Legislature.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in social work and theology at Cairn University in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.
In September 2016, it was reported Acosta pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor charge of conspiring to commit money laundering in connection with an embezzlement scheme.
Her crimes were committed between 2002 and 2012, before she took public office, in relation to the prosecution of Renee Tartaglione, sister of state Senator Christine Tartaglione, who is charged with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a publicly funded clinic for low income patients.
[2] Facing the prospect of being automatically stripped of her seat upon sentencing (Pennsylvania, like most states, does not allow convicted felons to hold office), Acosta resigned at the beginning of January 2017, shortly after being reelected to a second full term.