Corrine Brown seeking to return to U.S. House

Jacksonville, Fl — Former Jacksonville-area Congresswoman Corrine Brown is announcing her intent to run for a House seat in the Orlando area.

Brown says she will file her petition papers for the 10th Congressional District, which is an open seat, as Val Demings is running for the U.S. Senate. The candidate qualifying deadline is Noon Friday. As of Thursday at Noon, Brown had not formally qualified.

Brown recently pleaded guilty to engaging in a corrupt endeavor to obstruct and impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws. After accepting her guilty plea, Chief Judge Timothy Corrigan sentenced Brown to the time that she had already served in federal prison.

Brown was previously convicted by a federal jury for various offenses; after her appeal, the earlier conviction was vacated.

“I’ve represented most of the people of the new 10th District during my 24 years in Congress and I always earned huge support in this region,” Brown said. “Now I see our hard-won gains are being taken away from us. Minorities have lost opportunities to elect candidates of their choice because of the recent gerrymandering in the State of Florida.”

The longtime Democrat who served until her 2016 indictment on federal fraud charges was set for a second trial this September. Her original conviction was overturned and a retrial ordered.

In exchange, the government will dismiss all remaining pending counts and Brown will be sentenced to 32 months which she already served. Brown will also owe restitution to the IRS, totaling more than $62,000.

According to the plea agreement, Brown admitted to over-reporting her charitable giving by inflating total gifts to charitable organizations and non-profit entities including Edward Waters College (now University), the Community Rehabilitation Center and One Door for Education.

As she left the federal courthouse following the plea proceedings, Brown told reporters that she was appreciative of the support she received, and said she wanted the process to be over.

“We’re moving forward. So many people in the community have told me that they’re missing voices, and they want someone to, it’s been a silence”, Brown said.

She said she wanted to put ‘it’ behind her, and move forward.

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