JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — One of the co-conspirators in a fraud scheme that involved then-Northeast Florida Democratic Congresswoman Corrine Brown, is getting out of federal custody this month. Her release comes about three months shy of the full term she was sentenced to serve.
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WOKV confirmed that Carla Wiley was actually released from Federal Prison Camp Alderson in West Virginia on June 5th. At that time, she was transferred to a Residential Reentry Center, or halfway house, according to the Bureau of Prisons. The BOP says these centers provide assistance to inmates who are nearing release, including employment counseling, job placement, financial management assistance, and more.
The BOP confirms she will be released from federal custody on July 25th, although court records show her sentence calls for supervised release once she’s out.
Wiley surrendered January 29th, 2018, for her one year and nine month sentence, which would have put her release date at the end of October, had she served the full sentence. The US Attorney’s Office says this July release date reflects roughly 85% gain time. Wiley’s attorney, D. Gray Thomas, tells WOKV that a slightly shortened sentence like this will generally happen with an inmate that has not had disciplinary violations. With Wiley specifically, he says this sentence is consistent with one a compliant inmate would receive, and reflects that she poses no risk of disciplinary violations.
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Thomas declined to comment on what Wiley plans to do after her release.
Wiley was the founder and leader of “One Door For Education”, a sham charity that brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, but that Wiley, Brown, and Brown’s Chief of Staff Ronnie Simmons used for events and their own expenses. Wiley was the first to plead, and then helped the US Attorney’s Office build their case against Brown and Simmons, who were jointly indicted. Simmons later pleaded guilty as well and cooperated in the case. Because of this cooperation, prosecutors recommended leniency in their sentencing, although District Judge Timothy Corrigan gave Simmons a term that’s longer than what the advisory guidelines called for.
Brown went to trial, and was found guilty in May 2017 on 18 of 22 charges.
Brown surrendered for her five year prison sentence on January 29th, 2018. She is serving her sentence at Federal Corrections Institution Coleman’s minimum security satellite camp in Sumterville. Her convictions represent both the fraud scheme and filing false tax returns and financial disclosures. Prosecutors had sought up to nine years in prison for Brown.
Simmons surrendered January 8th, 2018 for his four year sentence at Federal Corrections Institution Cumberland’s minimum security satellite camp in Maryland. In addition to a fraud count, he had also pleaded to theft of government funds for getting his sister a “ghost” government job and taking some of the salary she collected.
Brown continues to appeal her convictions and sentence, saying she mismanaged her finances and put too much trust in Simmons. Her appeal centers on whether it was proper to remove a juror from deliberations after they had begun.
The US Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Wiley’s release.
Cox Media Group
