Yet another controversy hits Charlotte City Council as Tiawana Brown is indicted
On Thursday morning, federal prosecutors charged Councilwoman Tiawana Brown and her two daughters with wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy for allegedly lying on pandemic-era loan applications to secure over $124,000. The indictment marks the latest controversy for a council that has regularly faced criticism over transparency. Just days before, the state auditor said he would investigate the reported settlement with Charlotte's police chief, a decision council members reportedly made in a closed session.
Brown said in a Thursday morning news release she believed the indictment to be a political attack to interfere with her reelection efforts. The allegations stem from actions taken years before she joined city council, she said, and do not reflect her current commitment to the community.
'I am not here to be tried in the media,' Brown wrote. 'However, I must address the allegations against me by the United States District Court. I will have my day in court, and I trust the process.'
Political experts in Charlotte say the charges against Brown are some of the worst they've seen since a 2014 scandal involving then-Mayor Patrick Cannon.
Brown faces felony fraud charges that include conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, according to court records. Prosecutors allege she illegally spent $15,000 in loans on a birthday party and the majority of the Paycheck Protection Plan funds on other personal expenses including Louis Vuitton merchandise.
She has a court appearance scheduled Friday morning along with her daughters also facing charges. The Western District for the U.S. Attorney's Office has already prosecuted 35 people for COVID-related fraud, the Charlotte Observer reported.
Kristin Mavromatis, a spokesperson for the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections, said Brown is allowed to hold office and run for reelection unless she is convicted of a felony. Her indictment is not a guilty judgment and prosecutors must still prove her guilt in federal court.
And while Brown said at a Thursday morning press conference she will not resign, the charges raise questions about her future on the council.
The scandal could heavily impact her ability to win reelection, said Eric Heberlig, a politics professor at University of North Carolina Charlotte. Because Brown's district is mostly Democratic it may not matter much in a general election, he said, but could heavily sway the primary race in September.
'In a primary, it's likely to draw other candidates. It's likely to give those candidates a clear message to run against her,' Heberlig said. 'It's clearly something you want to avoid if you're a public official.'
Heberlig also said Brown's chances at reelection could be damaged by the fact that she is not a long-term incumbent. While well-known politicians can sometimes survive scandals, it is more difficult for people without strong name recognition or a persistent support base, he said.
Brown defeated two challengers in the 2023 Democratic primary, garnering 60% of the vote. Her seat was previously held by Councilwoman Victoria Watlington, who was elected to an at-large seat in 2023.
Voters may view Brown's indictment as a broader pattern on City Council rather than an individual issue, Heberlig said, especially since it follows a month of turmoil for the council.
'It's extremely damaging to have two different incidents at once, and for many voters, keeping track of the fact that they are separate and may involve different people is going to be hard.,' he said. 'For them, it's just a scandal, and this makes it a bigger scandal.'
Heberlig said public perception of the scope of corruption on City Council is likely further exacerbated by the comments made by Watlington earlier this month.
Watlington sent an email out to her supporters alleging illegal and unethical conduct within the City Council. Though she walked back her statements, saying she didn't have concerns about widespread corruption, the damage was done, Heberlig said.
'If you say that the city is corrupt, and then you have a specific instance of corruption, that seems to validate that earlier vague statement,' he said. 'Particularly when people are distrustful and think politics is corrupt to begin with, you don't need a whole lot of actual evidence to convince people of that.'
Watlington's comments prompted Mayor Vi Lyles and other council members to hold a press conference where they said they had no knowledge of corruption within the city and urged Watlington to offer evidence of unethical conduct if she has it.
Longtime Charlotte Democratic strategist Dan McCorkle said he can't recall a city council member being accused of crimes on this scale. It's rare for members to have scandals surrounding money or fraud, he said.
'I'm hard pressed to think of anyone on the city side that had anything that massive,' he said. 'Because that involves federal money, and that's a massive amount.'
In 2014, then-Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon was arrested and pleaded guilty in federal court to public corruption charges after accepting more than $50,000 in bribes while in office. Cannon served about half his 44-month prison sentence before he was released.
In an FBI sting operation, Cannon accepted bribes from agents posing as local real estate agents and in exchange promised to help their business.
Other than Cannon's case, McCorkle said council members occasionally face scrutiny for things like charging too many travel expenses to the city.
'That's the kind of stuff we normally have in Charlotte. Somebody does something naughty and in the old days, people resign or not run,' he said. 'There's no freaking way she can run for reelection, but I bet she'll try.'
In our Reality Check stories, Charlotte Observer journalists dig deeper into questions over facts, consequences and accountability. Read more. Story idea? RealityCheck@charlotteobserver.com.
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