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发帖数: 2309 | 1 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.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, who called the charges against Brown "
deeply saddening," said that for more than two decades "Brown has served her
constituents in Florida with passion and energy. She has been a champion
for America's veterans."
The 24-count indictment comes after an investigation into the purported
charity One Door for Education Foundation Inc., which federal prosecutors
say was billed as a way to give scholarships to poor students but instead
filled the coffers of Brown and her associates.
After the hearing, Brown predicted she would be cleared at trial. She was
surrounded by supporters outside the courthouse, some carrying signs. One
read, "Justice or else. Corrine matters."
"My heart is just really heavy. But I'm looking forward to a speedy day in
court to vindicate myself," Brown said. "We will present the other side."
Brown and Simmons, of Laurel, Maryland, were both released on $50,000 bail
and ordered not to travel outside the U.S. A status hearing was set for July
26. Simmons, who has been Brown's chief of staff since 1993, declined
comment after the hearing.
Earlier this year, One Door President Carla Wiley pleaded guilty to one
count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud after it was determined that she
had deposited $800,000 into the foundation's account over four years. Over
that time, federal prosecutors say it gave one scholarship for $1,000 and $
200 to an unidentified person in Florida, while Wiley transferred herself
tens of thousands of dollars.
"Congresswoman Brown and her chief of staff are alleged to have used the
congresswoman's official position to solicit over $800,000 in donations to a
supposed charitable organization, only to use that organization as a
personal slush fund," Assistant U.S. Attorney General Leslie Caldwell, chief
of the Justice Department's criminal division, said in a statement.
"Corruption erodes the public's trust in our entire system of representative
government," Caldwell added.
The indictment says that Brown, Simmons and Wiley "used the vast majority"
of One Door donations for their personal and professional benefit, including
tens of thousands of dollars in cash deposits that Simmons made to Brown's
personal bank accounts.
According to the indictment, more than $200,000 in One Door funds were used
to pay for events hosted by Brown or held in her honor, including a golf
tournament, lavish receptions during an annual Washington conference and the
use of luxury boxes for a Beyonce concert and an NFL game between the
Washington Redskins and Jacksonville Jaguars.
One Door money was also used for such things are repairs to Brown's car and
vacations to locations such as the Bahamas, Miami Beach and Los Angeles. In
addition, House of Representatives money was used to pay a "close family
member" of Simmons identified as "Person C" more than $735,000 between 2001
and 2016 for a job in Brown's office that involved little or no work,
according to the indictment. Simmons allegedly benefited from some of that
money.
"Our office is committed to ferreting out and prosecuting all forms of
corruption and fraud, regardless of who the offender is," said U.S. Attorney
A. Lee Bentley. "In our nation, no one is above the law."
Documents previously obtained by The Associated Press from Orlando Mayor
Buddy Dyer's office show that he received an invitation bearing the seal of
the House of Representatives to a July 13, 2013 golf tournament called the "
Corrine Brown Invitational." It was sponsored by the One Door organization
and coincided with a freight and rail industry symposium in Jacksonville.
Potential donors attending the tournament received letters from One Door
with Brown's signature and official House seal asking them to give from $125
up to $20,000 to One Door, according to Wiley's plea agreement.
The invitation said the donations would benefit a scholarship fund for the
Jacksonville chapter of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials,
or COMTO, and other charities. Authorities say none of the charities
received any of the money raised.
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