Former councilwoman speaks out after agreeing to plea in wire fraud case

CHARLOTTE — Former Charlotte City Councilwoman Tiawanna Brown spoke in a 28-minute Facebook Live after she agreed to plead guilty Thursday in a federal wire fraud case.

Channel 9’s crime reporter Hunter Sáenz has covered this story since her indictment and learned the penalties she’s likely going to face.

Brown said she will get probation and would have to back tens of thousands of dollars after she admitted to fraudulently taking more than $40,000 in PPP loans and spending it on personal expenses.

Brown said she’s taking a plea deal to put the federal wire fraud case behind her.

“I’m not making any comments at all,” Brown said starting off in her Facebook Live.

But she did say a lot.

“Whoever thought I was going to prison, you’re stupid,” Brown said.

Brown admits she fraudulently received more than $43,000 in small business and PPP and COVID-relief loans before she was elected, according to a signed plea deal.

She used that money lavishly.

Brown celebrated her 50th birthday going over the hill and through the streets of Charlotte in a horse-drawn carriage, arriving at the Harvey Gantt Center in Uptown where the celebration was held. She even posed for pictures on a throne.

Feds said it was a $15,000 affair made possible by fraud.

“My mom sat on the couch. She watched WSOC-TV,” Brown said in the Facebook Live. “Run the story. Run the birthday party. Here they go running a birthday party, which, you know, is sad.”

As part of the deal. Brown could get probation. Prosecutors are not opposed to that.

In these sorts of cases, for restitution and fines, the feds try to get back the amount a defendant intended to steal or take.

In this case, it’s just over $43,000 that Brown would have to pay back.

Brown told Channel 9 that she’s already done that.

“I don’t owe y’all no explanation, none,” she said. “You don’t know what me and my family going through. What this has cost us.”

A judge will have the ultimate say in approving this deal.

Brown is a previously convicted felon for fraud, which could play against her because a judge will likely take her criminal past into consideration.

Brown’s formal plea hearing will be on Feb. 9, according to court records.

Brown provided the following statement after the plea agreement: “I wanted to get this behind me and it’s an agreement where the US prosecution has agreed to probation.”

VIDEO: Former Charlotte city councilwoman agrees to plead guilty to conspiracy in wire fraud case

Former Charlotte city councilwoman agrees to plead guilty to conspiracy in wire fraud case

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