Showing posts with label Corrine Brown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Corrine Brown. Show all posts

Monday, December 04, 2017

Former Democratic Rep. Corrine Brown sentenced to 5 years for fraud

Former U.S. Representative Corrine Brown of Florida was sentenced on Monday to five years in prison for her role in helping raise more than $800,000 for a bogus charity that was used as a slush fund, federal court officials said.

Brown, 71, was convicted in May on 18 counts of participating in a conspiracy involving a fraudulent education charity, concealing material facts required on financial disclosure forms and filing false tax returns.

Brown, a Democrat from Jacksonville who served 24 years in Congress, lost her re-election bid last year after being indicted.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan said he considered Brown's years of public service in deciding her punishment. But he determined that "probation for a member of Congress convicted of 18 counts involving mail, wire, and tax fraud would not be sufficient," according to a transcript of his comments.

Brown maintains her innocence and will appeal, her lawyer, James Smith, told reporters outside the federal courthouse in Jacksonville on Monday. The former congresswoman declined to comment.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown convicted of federal fraud charges

On Thursday, a federal jury in Jacksonville convicted Corrine Brown, a former 12-term Florida congresswoman on 18 of 22 corruption counts ranging from mail fraud to filing a false federal tax return.

Brown and Ronnie Simmons, her chief of staff who previously pleaded guilty in the case, were named last year in a 24-count federal indictment relating to a scheme led by Brown in which she used her official post as a member of Congress to help solicit $800,000 in contributions for a sham education charity, One Door for Education.

She will be sentenced later this summer.

[SOURCE: POLITICO]

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

After 12 terms in Congress, Corrine Brown defeated in primary

Longtime U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown has lost her re-election bid in a radically redrawn 5th Congressional District.

Al Lawson, a former state senator from Tallahassee, won 48 percent of the vote to defeat Brown, who drew 39 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary for a district that now stretches from Downtown Jacksonville west along the Florida-Georgia border to Leon County.

Brown said she was proud that she had severed her constituents well during her 24 years in Congress, and 10 years before that in the Florida House of Representatives.

"It's been an honor serving the people, and they're going to have a new representative," Brown said. "I don't feel bad tonight because I know I've done the best I could."

Not only did Brown run in a district drawn to cover thousands of voters she had never represented, but she was indicted in July on 22 federal charges that include conspiracy, mail and wire fraud and violation of tax laws.

Brown and her chief of staff, Ronnie Simmons, are accused of using an unregistered charity to raise $800,000 that prosecutors said they used as a personal "slush fund."

Brown's trial on the federal corruption charges was delayed until at least November after a third set of attorneys withdrew from the case last week.

Immediately after her concession speech, Brown began dancing with her bodyguard to, "My Girl." Her supporters joined in and continued to applaud her -- the end of an era in Jacksonville and seemingly a nod to her accomplishments.

[SOURCE]

Saturday, July 09, 2016

US Rep. Corrine Brown indicted after fraud investigation

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown of Florida and her chief of staff pleaded not guilty Friday to multiple fraud charges and other federal offenses in a grand jury indictment unsealed after an investigation into what prosecutors call a phony charity turned into a personal slush fund.

Brown, a 69-year-old Democrat, and Chief of Staff Elias "Ronnie" Simmons, 50, entered pleas in Jacksonville federal court on charges of mail and wire fraud, conspiracy, obstruction and filing of false tax returns.

She has represented a Jacksonville-based congressional district since 1993 — one of the first three African-Americans elected to Congress from Florida since Reconstruction— and is seeking re-election in a newly redrawn district. Later Friday, Brown released a statement saying she was temporarily stepping down as ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, in accordance with House rules.

Read more: US Rep. Corrine Brown indicted after fraud investigation

Thursday, March 24, 2016

House ethics panel opens probe into Fla. Rep. Corrine Brown

The House Ethics Committee has officially opened an investigation into Florida Democrat Corrine Brown over a number of allegations, including "fraudulent activity" with an unnamed organization.

The committee will defer to the Justice Department and not actively pursue the probe because of the federal investigation.

The panel also is aware of allegations that Brown may have improperly solicited charitable donations, used campaign money for personal use, and failed to comply with tax laws.

Read more: House ethics panel opens probe into Fla. Rep. Corrine Brown