CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte City Council member indicted on criminal charges for fraud involving COVID-19 relief funds pleaded not guilty and asked for a jury trial during her first appearance in court Friday.

What You Need To Know

  • Tiawana Brown and her two daughters are accused of submitting false information to get COVID-19 relief money

  • All three pleaded not guilty in court appearances Friday

  • Brown said Thursday that she has paid the money back

Tiawana Brown and her two daughters, Tijema Brown and Antionette Rouse, are accused of submitting at least 15 applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Paycheck Protection Program funds with false information and false documentation to get $124,165 of COVID relief money. In addition, the government alleges they submitted false statements to receive loan forgiveness of the PPP loans.

The alleged actions happened between April 2020 and September 2021. Brown was elected to city council in 2023.

On Friday, they all pleaded not guilty and asked for a jury trial. They are accused of using the money for a $15,000 birthday party for Tiawana Brown.

In a news conference Thursday, Brown said she paid it back.

“A few months ago, when I found out, it was brought to my attention that there might be some scrutiny going on with the application, I paid it back. $20,833 — that is the amount that I’m responsible for,” Brown said.

After their appearance Friday, the judge ordered them to surrender their passports.

They were each given a $25,000 unsecured bond that must be paid only if they fail to appear.

If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison per charge.

Brown and her daughters walked outside of the courthouse with their attorneys as reporters followed them.

“This has nothing to do with my city,” said Brown, who represents district 3 in Charlotte.

She asked her constituents to stand with her and said she plans to continue serving them.

"Thank you God for favor today. You were definitely a lawyer in the courtroom. Favor isn't fair. We are good!" Brown posted on Facebook on Friday.

Criminal defense attorney John Dowling, who is not representing any of the defendants but has represented three people in PPP fraud cases, said there are misconceptions about the program.

He said that although the federal assistance programs are over, the government is still looking into these cases.

He has written blog posts on his website to explain the correct uses of PPP loans.

“If you misrepresented and inflated your payroll expenses, and intended to deceive the government in order to get the money, that's where the crime is. If you were honest in all of your representations to the government initially, and then later on realized that you didn't need all of the loan money to spend on payroll, you could use that money for whatever you wanted. The only caveat would be that you wouldn't have that loan forgiven then on the back end,” Dowling said.

Dowling said he doesn’t believe Brown’s position as a public official will carry an additional penalty in this case since the alleged actions happened before she took office.

In addition, he doesn’t believe her previous fraud conviction more than 30 years ago will play a role in this case. Brown served a total of four years in prison.

“My understanding is that it’s very old. Now, that's something that the judge will take into consideration at the time of trial. My guess would be that the jury will not learn about that prior conviction,” Dowling said.

Brown said she plans to run for re-election in November.