Charlotte City Council member Tiawana Brown held a town hall Wednesday for residents in Steele Creek.
The meeting came less than a week after she was indicted on federal fraud charges over an alleged scheme to unlawfully obtain $124,000 in COVID relief loans.
After the two-hour meeting, Brown stood on the stage and addressed the crowd of roughly 75 people.
“This has been one of the most difficult six days of my life,” she said. “But I want you to hear directly from me. I’m still here. I’m still fighting, and I’m still serving. When I ran for office, I told you that all my life I had to fight, and I’m fighting now.”
Brown and her two daughters, Tijema Brown and Antoinette Rouse, pleaded not guilty on May 23 to charges of wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud. Tiawana Brown could face up to 20 years on each charge.
She has said she won’t resign and that she’ll run for reelection this fall. Filing for city elections is in early July.
The U.S. attorney said Brown and her daughters used fake tax forms to apply for Payroll Protection Program and other relief loans in 2020 and 2021. In one instance, Brown received a loan for nearly $21,000 for her business TC Collection, which appears to have sold women’s bathing suits.
The money was deposited into a bank account for Brown’s nonprofit, Beauty After The Bars, according to the indictment. It said Brown then spent $15,000 from that same account on a birthday party for herself.
Brown said last week she repaid that loan and has speculated that the indictment was politically motivated.
During a question and answer session at the town hall, residents didn’t ask Brown about the alleged fraud, which would have occurred before was elected to council in 2023. They focused instead on traffic, crime and development.
But the indictment was on people’s minds. Steele Creek resident Patrick Burris said the allegations worry him.
“It’s a very disturbing allegation she faces,” Burris said. “And, you know, her passions for the community, for the district, although impressive, it’s still a bit disturbing.
Brown previously served four years in prison in the 1990s on fraud charges. She later founded Beauty After The Bars to help women who had been incarcerated. Her election to City Council received national attention as an inspirational story. She is the first formerly incarcerated person elected to Charlotte City Council.
