WATCH: Rep. Corrine Brown asks supporters for help in paying for new trial

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Former U.S. Representative Corrine Brown spoke to her supporters Tuesday at a prayer service at Mt. Olive A.M.E Church on Church Street in Orlando.

Brown asked for a new trial earlier this month.

She was found guilty in May of fraudulently taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in a fake charity and using it as a personal slush fund.

Brown told Eyewitness News that she hopes to get a new trial request granted before her sentencing in a few months.

Her attorney said if a juror had not been dismissed during deliberations for saying “God told him Brown was innocent,” the trial would have ended in a hung jury.

"The criminal justice system is the new slavery. I feel very strongly about that. Because so many young African-American men, women, Hispanics, others are involved in the criminal justice system,” Brown said.

Brown's attorney says she sold her home and dipped into her retirement fund to fight the federal charges.

Brown passed out envelopes and asked people to donate to her legal defense fund saying no donation is too large.

Channel 9's Lauren Seabrook was the only reporter at the event to question why Brown asked for money from her supporters.

"It's not money they're giving to me. It is for my legal defense so that I can get a new trial,” Brown said.

"We've seen her heart, and what you have to do is, you have to follow a person's heart,” said Mark Crutcher, pastor of Mt. Olive A.M.E. Church.

Brown said even through the criminal justice process, she hasn't stop serving this community. She also maintains her innocence.

"I'm not guilty. They know that. They know me. I've spent my life serving and on my tombstone will not be felon,” Brown said.

Watch our interview with Corrine Brown below:

Cox Media Group