Since her indictment last summer, she had been publicly defiant of the government's charges, saying she was among black elected officials who have been "persecuted".
A juror accused of making a questionable comment has been excused from deliberations in former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown's fraud trial. Brown's indictment said the Virginia-based One Door gave out only one scholarship, for $1,200, to an unidentified person in Florida. Prosecutors say she funneled money from a nonprofit education fund into her personal accounts. She was found not guilty of two mail fraud counts and two wire fraud counts.
Prosecutors said Brown, a resident of Jacksonville, was aided in the conspiracy by her former chief of staff, Elias Simmons, and Carla Wiley, the president of the fraudulent charity.
"Former Congresswoman Brown took an oath year after year to serve others, but instead she exploited the needs of children and deceived her constituents to advance her own personal and political agendas", said FBI Jacksonville Division Special Agent in Charge Charles Spencer in a prepared statement.
Brown said she plans to seek a new trial.
WH again postpones Paris climate pact meeting as Macron jabs Trump
Espinosa refused to comment on the impact of a possible US withdrawal from the talks or even the entire climate change accord. China's President Xi Jinping has proven steady on his stance on climate change.
If Brown thought social media would give her the sympathy that the jury denied her, she was mistaken.
Under cross-examination, Simmons admitted that he lied for years about One Door, that he lied to the FBI when investigators came to question him about it and that he lied to Brown's defense attorney when the attorney, at one point, was going to represent him along with Brown.
The final chapter of her legacy is being written in a Jacksonville federal courthouse, that she, as a congresswoman, helped build. "And she will continue to do that". At one point she broke down crying and the jury had to be ushered from the room while she composed herself after crying out "they're trying to destroy my life" during cross-examination.
The charges carry penalties as high as 300 years in prison, but there are suggestions that Brown could be sentenced to far less time.
On Thursday, Smith said he was struck that some of the contributors to the charity would testify as part of the government's case, only to embrace Brown after leaving the stand. During these occasions, he would be directed to deposit the maximum $800 from the account at an ATM near his house and then deposit hundreds into her personal account. One Door was not a registered nonprofit and most of the money went to their own pockets or was spent on lavish events in Brown's honor, DOJ said. He would often keep some for himself.
Comments