- Former Charlotte City Council member Tiawana Brown and her two daughters each could face probation and restitution when they are sentenced next week on federal fraud charges related to COVID loans.
- Federal prosecutors filed a sentencing memorandum Sunday indicating that the government "does not oppose" probation in the case, though each woman would be eligible for sentences of four to 10 months in prison.
- The memorandum calls for restitution and forfeiture money judgments for all three women.
Federal prosecutors would accept probation and restitution as part of next week’s sentencing of former Charlotte City Council member Tiawana Brown and her two daughters on fraud charges.
Brown, Tijema Brown, and Antionette Rouse are scheduled for sentencing Sept. 22 on charges related to fraudulent COVID-19 loan applications. Each pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy.
All three were indicted in May 2025, when Tiawana Brown served on the Charlotte City Council. She lost her re-election bid in September 2025.
Assistant US Attorney Matthew Warren filed an eight-page sentencing memorandum Sunday. It spells out the federal government’s views on the proper sentence for the three women.
Each woman could face four to 10 months in prison based on the crime and federal sentencing guidelines. But a sentence without prison time is “generally appropriate,” according to Warren’s memo.
The government “does not oppose a sentence of probation” for each defendant, the memo explained.
“The Guidelines direct that if probation is imposed, the term shall be at least one year but not more than five years,” according to the memo. “In addition, pursuant to the Guidelines, the sentence of probation shall include a condition or combination of conditions that substitute intermittent confinement, community confinement, or home detention for the term of imprisonment.”
Prosecutors also seek restitution for the US Small Business Administration, “the principal victim in this case,” according to the memo. The SBA seeks restitution of $23,683.25 from Tiawana Brown, $56,798.42 from Tijema Brown, and $56,798.42 from Rouse.
The sentencing memo also calls for forfeiture money judgments of $22,500 from Tiawana Brown, and $51,666 from both Tijema Brown and Rouse. Tiawana Brown received $43,333 in fraudulent loan proceeds and has repaid $20,833 along with an unnamed “third party.”
Tiawana Brown “fraudulently submitted” four Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications from April 2020 through January 2021, according to the memo. She received $22,500 from SBA, with another $20,000 in “attempted loan funds.”
Tiawana Brown, with help from Tijema Brown, submitted a false application for Paycheck Protection Program funds during the COVID pandemic, the memo added. She received $20,833 in PPP loan funds for the bank account of a nonprofit named Beauty After the Bars.
“Approximately one month after receiving the PPP loan proceeds, Defendant Tiawana Brown spent approximately $15,000 using that same bank account to fund an extravagant birthday party for herself, including thousands of dollars spent on catering, the venue, a photographer, a rented throne, and a horse-drawn carriage, among other expenditures,” the memo explained.
Between April 2020 and September 2021, the defendants “conspired to execute a wire fraud scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to obtain COVID-19 pandemic relief funds through the submission of loan applications containing false information or false documentation,” according to May 2025 indictment of the three women.
“The false documentation generally included fake and fraudulent tax forms that lied about gross income and number of employees, among other misrepresentations,” said the indictment. “Defendants also submitted false statements for PPP loan forgiveness. Defendants submitted at least fifteen applications for EIDL or PPP funds.”
Altogether, the three secured more than $124,000 through fraudulent PPP and EIDL loans, with prosecutors alleging they spent the majority of the funds on personal expenses including luxury items from Louis Vuitton and $15,000 on the party for Tiawana Brown.
At the time of the indictment, Tiawana Brown insisted she had already paid the loans back and called it a political attack.
“There’s some PPP loans out there that just came up that never touched the courtroom. So if it’s about justice and I paid it back, why are we here? I paid it back on my own. No one had to tell me to do that,” she explained.
Brown had previously served several years in federal prison in her 20s on a felony fraud conviction.
“I am not here to be tried in the media,” Tiawana Brown said in May 2025. “However, I must address the allegations against me by the United States District Court. I will have my day in court, and I trust the process.”