Share

Florida Lawmaker Faces 357 Years In Prison On Fraud Charges

According to First Coast News, she testified against a public official believed to be Brown. At the time, Brown was fighting changes to her district.

Advertisement

Brown withdrew her appeal in that case, but now she’s in another fight.

Congresswoman Corrine Brown has been indicted on 24 federal counts including fraud, theft of government funds, scheme to hide facts, corrupt endeavor to obstruct.

On June 9, 1998, Congresswomen Corrine Brown also faced the Congressional Accountability Project who had voted to conduct a formal inquiry against her The Project called for the U.S House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to determine if Brown had violated House Rule 10.

Rep. Corrine Brown, pictured previous year, has been indicted on federal fraud and conspiracy charges for what prosecutors call a scheme to misuse funds raised for a charitable organization.

Prosecutors claim Brown, Simmons and One Door’s president, Carla Wiley, used money donated to the charity to buy plane tickets, fix their personal cars and to pay for luxury vacations in the Bahamas, Los Angeles and Miami Beach.

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown was before a federal judge Friday afternoon, facing a 24-count indictment for conspiracy, mail fraud, theft of government property, filing false tax returns … a lot of things. One Door’s president, Carla Wiley, entered a guilty plea in early March on a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

The indictment is the result of an investigation in the One Door for Education Foundation, an organized tied to Brown that federal prosecutors allege was a fraudulent charity, and that Brown and her associates used “the vast majority” of its funds to enrich themselves. The trial was set for September 6, a week after her re-election primary. “I will let the work I’ve done speak for me”, Brown said.

“I am certain this will not be a distraction from my service to the people of Florida’s 5th Congressional District who elected me, and I am confident I will be cleared of these charges”, she wrote.

According to the Florida Times, Brown did later apologize for her comments saying, “I sincerely did not mean to offend Secretary Noriega or anyone in the room”.

“She’s done some solid things for this city, and she’ll continue to do solid things for this city”, said Jacksonville resident and supporter Patrick Macon.

“I think it’s just a little mud-slinging, but who knows, she’s going to be tried”, he said. Al Lawson, but fully 40 percent of likely Democratic voters were undecided or didn’t answer. The indictment also states Brown and Simmons used the outside consulting company of one of Brown’s employees to funnel One Door funds to Brown and others for personal use. Brown’s indictment was widely reported Thursday, even though her attorneys didn’t see the charges until the congresswoman turned herself in Friday.

Advertisement

The new charges, however, are of an altogether different magnitude with the maximum sentence for all charges coming to 357 years plus more than $4 million in fines.

Corrine Brown Indicted – Pleads Not Guilty