Florida –
On May 11, 2017, Former Dem. Representative Corrine Brown was found
guilty on 18 out of 22 criminal charges leveled against her. Brown's
charges consisted of filing false income tax returns, conspiring to
commit mail and wire fraud, aiding and abetting mail fraud charges,
aiding and abetting wire fraud, engaging in a scheme to hide facts and
corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede IRS laws. Although a sentencing
date isn't set, Brown will be facing more than 300 years in prison for
the crimes she was convicted of.
Brown was specifically
ridiculed for a charity of hers, “One Door for Education,”
which raised $833,000 with only $1,200 actually being provided to the
students who were supposed to receive the donations. The rest of the
funds were alleged to have been spent on lavish parties, tickets to
see Beyonce, NFL games, golf tournaments, cosmetic dermatology, Beverly
Hills shopping and more.
Corrine Brown pictured with Hillary Clinton and Former
President Barack Obama
Brown claims her
former chief of staff was to blame, yet he claims she directly instructed
him to steal money from a foundation and deposit the funds into her
private account. At one point during trial, Brown had an emotional outburst,
yelling, "He's trying to destroy my life."
The Department of
Justice released a statement
claiming Brown was a corrupt public official who undermined the integrity
of government. Their statement read in part, “Former Congresswoman
Corrine Brown violated the public trust, the honor of her position,
and the integrity of the American system of government when she abused
one of the most powerful positions in the nation for her own personal
gain. She shamefully deprived needy children of hundreds of thousands
of dollars that could have helped..."
Brown served as
Florida's fifth Congressional district representative before losing
during the August primary in the wake of her federal criminal charges.
After 24 years in Congress, Brown's term ended in January. Brown will
likely appeal her conviction as she claimed her innocence in a post
conviction interview. Brown is free on bond until sentencing.