Katrina Brown guilty on all charges, Reggie Brown guilty on most charges in federal trial

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — UPDATE Feb. 19, 2020:

According to court documents, the sentencing hearing has been extended from March 30 to May 19.

This will give the former Jacksonville City Council members Katrina Brown and Reggie Brown around seven weeks to get ready.

Katrina Brown guilty on all charges.

Reggie Brown guilty on charges 1-12, not guilty on charge 13, guilty on charges 14-33, and guilty on charge 38.

Sentencing will take place Jan. 27, 2020 at 9:30 a.m.

Katrina Browns charges:

• Count 1: Attempt & conspiracy to commit mail fraud
• Count 2-14: Frauds & Swindles
• Count 15-27: Fraud by wire, radio or TV
• Count 28-33: Engaging in monetary transactions
• Count 34-35: Attempt & conspiracy to commit mail fraud
• Count 36-37: Loan and credit applications generally

Katrina Brown was found guilty on all of the above charges.

Reggie Browns charges:

• Count 1: Attempt & conspiracy to commit mail fraud
• Count 2-12: Frauds & swindles
• Count 13: Frauds & swindles
• Count 14: Frauds & swindles
• Count 15-33: Engaging in monetary transactions
• Count 38: Willful failure to file return information

Reggie Brown was found guilty on most charges; he was found not guilty on charge 13 listed above.

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Jury reaches a verdict in the federal trial of former council members Katrina Brown and Reggie Brown. Updates on CBS47 and FOX30.

Updates from Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019 are below:

Jury deliberations will resume Wednesday in the federal trial of Katrina Brown and Reggie Brown.

The 12-person jury was given the case around 3 p.m. Tuesday and began deliberations.

The jury was dismissed for the day shortly after 5:30 p.m.

Katrina celebrated her 39th birthday in court trying to make her case to the jury. She took up more than an hour to present closing arguments.

Katrina questioned the credibility of the government’s two star witnesses, Vandaren Gantt and Tommie Hogan.

She called Hogan a liar and noted he testified he lied to the FBI and his attorney about doing work for the family’s business.

Katrina said the government’s evidence was an “illusion” and the statements were inconsistent.

During closing arguments, the federal government acknowledged the evidence in the case was “overwhelming,” but said the jury’s decision should be “easy.”

Prosecutors said Katrina’s family’s barbecue sauce company was a “complete disaster” and she was in desperate need of money.

The government said Katrina helped Reggie create two sham businesses to funnel more than $250,000 in grant and loan funds through.

The prosecution said Reggie’s companies only existed on paper, and didn’t do anything

After the checks were deposited into Reggie’s bank accounts, prosecutors said he kept 20% and the rest went back to Katrina.

Prosecutors claim Reggie spent some of the money on himself including at restaurants, the movies, and department stores.

The government said the Browns’ actions showed they agreed to work together.

“Reggie Brown will have you believe he didn’t know what was going on, but it’s just not believable,” prosecutor Tysen Duva said.

This conspiracy doesn’t work unless both Reggie Brown and Katrina Brown played their roles, the prosecution argued.

Duva called the Browns “partners in crime.”

During closings, the government said the bank statements don’t lie and they proved their case.

However, defense attorney Thomas Bell said there was a lack of evidence in the case to tie Reggie to the conspiracy.

He said a formal agreement between Katrin and Reggie to commit the conspiracy was missing from the government’s case.

Bell argued Reggie had no direct contact with the lender, Biz Capital. He also said there’s no evidence to support Reggie opened the envelopes from Biz Capital that Katrina had mailed to the house.

“The evidence is the lack of evidence,” Bell said. “His decision not to testify was due to the lack of evidence tying him to this conspiracy.”

The jury will resume deliberations around 9 a.m.

Jury deliberation is suspended until tomorrow in the federal trial of former council members Katrina Brown and Reggie Brown.

The jury is now deliberating the case of former Jacksonville council members Katrina Brown and Reggie Brown.

ORIGINAL STORY

Katrina Brown and Reggie Brown, two unrelated former Jacksonville council members could spend the rest of their lives behind bars if found guilty of stealing taxpayers’ money.

Action News Jax broke the news in May of 2018 when the federal indictment was filed against the two sitting city councilmembers.

STAY UPDATED: Download the Action News Jax app for live updates on the trial

QUICK FACTS:

• Closing arguments from both sides will begin today and a verdict could come down as early as today depending on how long the jury deliberates.
• Several witnesses have testified, saying the councilmembers created fake invoices to apply for loans for a family barbecue sauce business and used the money for things like paying rent and going to the movies.
• Prosecutors say the former councilmembers used the loans backed by taxpayers on themselves. Katrina allegedly paid rent for a high-rise apartment and other personal expenses, while Reggie allegedly used the money to pay his property taxes and used it as a personal debit card.
• The face of the barbecue business, Katrina's father was the final witness of the trial. He told the jury the family invested their own money into the business.
• Katrina faces up to 720 years in prison.
• Reggie could face 601 years if convicted on all counts.
• Reggie decided to rest without taking the witness stand.

Read day by day information regarding the federal trial here.

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