A federal grand jury indicted U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown of Florida and her chief of staff on fraud charges and other crimes, accusing them of funneling money for a bogus education charity to personal use, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday, July 8.
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U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., is scheduled to appear in court in Jacksonville, Fla., Friday afternoon.
The group’s president, Carla Wiley, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud earlier this year.
“I am innocent of the charges announced today, and intend to vigorously defend myself in court against these politically motivated allegations”, the congresswoman said in a statement Friday.
In addition to the indictment and an active investigation of her “nonprofit” cash cow, the House Ethics Committee is investigating Brown over campaign finance violations and various suspicious commercial dealings.
Federal prosecutors say despite being able to track hundreds of thousands of dollars going into the One Door for Education scholarship fund, they could only find $1,200 awarded in scholarships. The indictment said more than $200,000 from the charity was used to pay for Brown to host a golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, to pay for lavish receptions, a luxury box at a Beyonce concert and a box when the Jacksonville Jaguars played the Washington Redskins.
IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Richard Weber and Assistant Director of the FBI Diego Rodriguez [Photo by Keith Lane/Getty Images]Michelle Klimt, Special Agent in charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division stated, “Corrupt public officials undermine the integrity of our government and violate the public’s trust. that is why public corruption is the FBI’s top criminal priority”. Also, donors were reportedly misled, and told “One Door was a properly-registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, when, in fact, it was not”.
Brown, along with two others elected the same year, was the first elected black representative from Florida since Reconstruction, a result of her new black-majority district that twisted down to Orlando. In 1992, the Legislature drew her 14-county district to include Volusia and Flagler counties.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi called the charges “deeply saddening” but said Brown rightly stepped down pending resolution of the case.
Simmons is also charged with theft of government property based on the misuse of his position to obtain congressional employment for a close relative. In all, $735,000 in government salary was paid, of which Simmons diverted $80,000 for personal benefit.
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Editor’s note: This article was updated with quotes from Brown, her plea and possible sentence.
