Fla. rep, chief aide plead not guilty to fraud charges
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Florida congresswoman and her chief of staff pleaded not guilty Friday to multiple counts of fraud and other charges in an indictment alleging she benefited from a phony charity that turned into a personal slush fund.
The appearance of Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., in U.S. District Court on almost two dozen charges was brief. But she is scheduled for another hearing Aug. 12, and if all goes as prosecutors plan, her trial will begin right after Labor Day — Sept. 6 — and well before Election Day, when she is running for an eighth term in the House of Representatives.
A federal grand jury indicted Brown, 69, on Wednesday but sealed the criminal complaint until her court appearance. Her chief of staff, Elias "Ronnie" Simmons, 50, of Laurel, Md., has been with her since she first took office in 1993.
Brown's 22 charges in the 24-count indictment include fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, making false statements and wire fraud. Simmons faces 19 counts.
If convicted, she faces up to 357 years in federal prison, fines totaling $4,805 million and restitution payments of $896,890.
"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.
Both Brown and Simmons were released on $50,000 bond and ordered not to travel outside the United States.
Brown was ordered not to have contact with one of her former aides, Von Alexander, and the president of the charity called One Door for Education. One Door's president, Carla Wiley, entered a guilty plea in early March on a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Later Friday, Brown said she would temporarily step down as ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs in accordance with House rules.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, called the charges against Brown “deeply saddening.”
But Brown is not resigning her seat and will continue to run for re-election in a newly drawn district that stretches from Jacksonville west to Tallahassee.
"Congresswoman Brown is the subject of an indictment today, but in reality, she has endured a one-sided inquisition in the court of public opinion over one year," said Elizabeth White, one of Brown's lawyers.
The indictment came after an investigation into One Door for Education, 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.
"I am looking forward to my day in court to vindicate myself," Brown said outside the courthouse.
While Wiley pleaded guilty to one count, prosecutors determined that she had deposited $800,000 into One Door's account over four years. In that time, the organization, which never registered with the IRS as a nonprofit, gave scholarships for $1,000 and $200 to unidentified Florida students while Wiley transferred tens of thousands of dollars to herself.
Among Brown's charges are engaging in tax obstruction between 2008 and 2014.
"The defendants are alleged to have committed a multitude of criminal violations, including fraudulently receiving and using hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions meant for a non-profit organization for their own personal and professional benefit,” said Richard Weber, the IRS' chief of criminal investigation. “The American public expects and deserves equitable enforcement of our tax laws.”
Simmons also is charged with theft of government property. The FBI contends that a relative of Simmons' received a $735,000 government salary despite "performing no known work" and that Simmons diverted more than $80,000 of that salary for his personal benefit.
More than $200,000 in One Door money was used to pay for events that Brown hosted or had held in her honor, including a golf tournament, lavish receptions during an annual Washington conference, and use of luxury boxes for a Beyonce concert and an NFL game between the Washington Redskins and Jacksonville Jaguars, according to the indictment.
One Door money also was used for such things as repairs to Brown’s car and vacations to locations such as the Bahamas, Miami Beach and Los Angeles.
“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.”
Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow WTLV- and WJXX-TV on Twitter: @FCN2go