Prosecutors seek 'significant punishment' for Corrine Brown

DOCUMENT: Prosecutors want "significant punishment" for Brown, memorandum says

The Middle District of Florida, in a sentencing memorandum involving Corrine Brown, said “significant punishment” is required for the former Florida Congresswoman.

Brown, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 16, faces significant prison time after she was convicted earlier this year on multiple counts of fraud. The court pointed out that former elected officials convicted of fraud served prison time and recommended that Brown receive jail time.

“One takeaway is clear,” the sentencing memorandum said. “No Court sentenced any of these [convicted fraud] defendants to a probationary sentence."

Prosecutors are asking for reduced sentences for Brown’s co-conspirators. In a document filed in federal court, the government cited Carla Wiley and Ronnie Simmons’ cooperation in the trial that convicted Brown of 18 fraud counts.

DOCUMENTS: Ronnie Simmons motion for downward departure | Carla Wiley motion for downward departure 

The government also filed documents that said Brown “chose to ridicule the American system of justice and rule of law both pre- and post-conviction.”

The same document said that Brown “stooped so low as to state that if the Jacksonville FBI had not spent resources investigating her fraudulent conduct, then the Pulse nightclub tragedy in Orlando on June 12, 2016 would not have occurred.”

The government pointed out that in July 2016, after she was arraigned, Brown was recorded saying, “I represent Orlando. These are the same agents that was not able to do a thorough investigation of [Omar Mateen] and we ended up with fifty dead people, and over forty-eight people injured.

Same Justice Department. Same agents. And with that, I will see you in court.”

The documents also charge that Brown lied on the stand during her trial.

“Corrine Brown’s trial testimony was replete with material falsehoods,” the document said. “After taking an oath to tell the truth, Brown treated the witness stand in this Courthouse as a kind of political pulpit to say anything – no matter the degree of falsity.

“Throughout her testimony, Brown attempted to weave together explanations for the charged criminal conduct, explanations that were inconsistent, beyond far-fetched,outright false, and refuted by the evidence.”

Cox Media Group