Former Charlotte City Council member Tiawana Brown blasted a federal judge on Facebook Live after he sentenced her to 10 months in prison for a COVID relief fraud conspiracy. “That judge did some bullsh*t in court today,” she said after the September 22nd hearing. Brown had expected probation, which federal prosecutors had recommended. Instead, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell ordered prison time in a case that included relief money spent on her elaborate birthday party.
Brown appeared in federal court alongside her two adult daughters, Tijema Brown and Antionette Rouse. All three had pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud through applications for pandemic business loans. Bell sentenced the daughters to probation and home detention, while Brown received 10 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release. Brown’s prison sentence became the focus of her video later that night.
The scheme ran from April 2020 through September 2021, according to federal prosecutors. The women submitted applications through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Paycheck Protection Program, claiming funds for purported businesses. Their paperwork included false information and fabricated documents, including an IRS Schedule C form. Investigators said they obtained the money and used some of it for personal expenses instead of qualifying business costs.
The Justice Department said the defendants filed at least 13 applications and fraudulently received at least $146,665. About $15,000 went toward Brown’s personal birthday party, prosecutors said. Bell ordered the three women to pay $137,280.09 in restitution to the Small Business Administration; the department said Brown had paid $20,833 by sentencing. The court also ordered forfeiture of fraud proceeds, a separate part of the sentence.
The party featured a rented throne and horse-drawn carriage, according to the Carolina Journal. Bell called the birthday spending “frivolous beyond measure.” He also addressed Brown’s conduct after she was charged in May 2025: she remained on the City Council, denied wrongdoing publicly and called the prosecution a political attack. Brown later pleaded guilty and left office when her term ended after losing the 2025 primary.
Brown disputed the way Bell treated her at sentencing. In the 27-minute video, she said the judge had criticized how she presented herself on social media and in interviews. “This judge had it out for me,” she said, according to WFAE. She acknowledged that Bell could impose a sentence different from the one she had expected but claimed that his decision was personal.
Watch Brown’s response after the sentencing here:
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The sentencing came despite prosecutors’ request for probation. Bell imposed a 10-month term at the high end of the recommended range. He addressed the purpose of the emergency loan programs, saying, “These programs are set up at a time of great desperation for a lot of people,” according to the Justice Department. “The public is tired of being ripped off,” he added.
Brown’s reaction also revisited her initial denial of the charges. She said she had pleaded not guilty while reviewing the evidence, then decided to accept a plea agreement. She accused the government and FBI of misconduct in the video, while saying she accepted responsibility for her own actions. Bell, meanwhile, had criticized her for telling Charlotte the case was politically motivated when she knew she was guilty.
This will be Brown’s second federal prison term for fraud. She served time in the 1990s for a student-loan fraud case and became the first former inmate elected to the Charlotte City Council in 2023. In the video, she argued that more serious criminals receive less scrutiny and said she had expected probation. Brown added, “I’m not saying I’m innocent, but what happened to me in court today should have never happened.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.