Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the
Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow
of the Middle District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Charles P. Spencer
of the FBI’s Jacksonville, Florida, Division, and Chief Don Fort of the
Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) made the announcement.
On May 11, 2017, Brown was convicted by a federal jury on 18
counts of an indictment charging her with participating in a conspiracy
involving a fraudulent education charity, concealing material facts in required
financial disclosure forms, obstructing the due administration of internal
revenue laws, and filing false tax returns. The jury also found her guilty of
violating the Ethics in Government Act by concealing certain income in required
annual financial disclosure forms she had submitted to the U.S. House of
Representatives.
Evidence at trial showed that between late 2012 and early
2016, Brown participated in a conspiracy and fraud scheme involving One Door
for Education – Amy Anderson Scholarship Fund (One Door) in which the Brown,
Simmons, Wiley, and others acting on their behalf solicited more than $800,000
in charitable donations based on false representations that the donations would
be used for college scholarships and school computer drives, among other
charitable causes. Testimony by One Door donors showed that Brown and her
coconspirators had solicited donations from individuals and corporate entities
that Brown knew by virtue of her position in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Many of the donors were led to believe that One Door was a properly registered
501(c)(3) non-profit organization when, in fact, it was not.
Contrary to Brown’s representations, Brown, Simmons, Wiley,
and others 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 trial
evidence. Likewise, trial evidence showed that Brown and Simmons had used the
outside consulting company of one of Brown’s employees to funnel One Door funds
to Brown and others for their personal use.
Trial evidence also showed that more than $300,000 in One
Door funds had been used to pay for events hosted by Brown or held in her
honor, including a golf tournament in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida; lavish
receptions during an annual conference in Washington, D.C.; the use of a luxury
box during a concert in Washington, D.C.; and the use of a luxury box during an
NFL game in the Washington, D.C. area. According to trial evidence, despite
raising over $800,000 in donations, One Door granted only two scholarships
totaling $1,200 to cover expenses related to attending a college or university.
Additionally, trial evidence demonstrated that Brown had
failed to disclose, among other things, the reportable income she had received
from One Door and had claimed deductions on her tax returns based on false
statements that she had made certain donations to One Door, as well as to local
churches and non-profit organizations in the Jacksonville area.
The FBI and IRS-CI investigated the case. Assistant U.S.
Attorneys A. Tysen Duva and Michael J. Coolican of the Middle District of
Florida and former Deputy Chief Eric G. Olshan of the Criminal Division’s
Public Integrity Section prosecuted the case.