A North Carolina lawmaker pleaded guilty to fraud charges for stealing pandemic relief funds and using the money to throw herself a lavish birthday party.
Former Charlotte City Councilwoman Tiawana Brown, 54, was indicted in May on federal charges of COVID-19 loan fraud.
Prosecutors alleged that Brown and her two daughters, 33-year-old Antoinette Rouse and 32-year-old Tijema Brown, submitted false documents to obtain nearly $125,000 in pandemic relief funds between April 2020 and September 2021.
In one instance, approximately one month after Brown received $20,833 in PPP loans, she spent $15,000 on a birthday party for herself, according to the indictment.
‘The party expenditures included approximately $3,500 for a venue, $5,000 in catering, $2,300 photography and video, a balloon arch, a rose wall, a rented throne and a horse-drawn carriage,’ the court document stated.
Prosecutors also claimed that Brown and her daughters used the funds to purchase Louis Vuitton merchandise.
Brown previously pleaded not guilty to the charges and lost her primary re-election race while in the midst of the court battle in September, Queen City News reported.
On Thursday, court records indicated that Brown reached an agreement with prosecutors and changed her plea to guilty.