Tiawana Brown’s daughter admits to family scheme to steal money from government
Former City Councilwoman Tiawana Brown’s daughter admitted to scheming with her family to use fake documents and steal pandemic relief money from the federal government.
At a hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina Wednesday morning, Tijema Brown, 30, accepted a plea deal from U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson’s office.
She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in exchange for a promise by prosecutors to drop two wire fraud charges and not oppose a sentence without prison time. Ultimately, a judge will decide her sentence.
The plea agreement also says she must forfeit “all assets listed in the charging document.” The May indictment filed against the Browns and Antoinette Rouse, Tiawana Brown’s other daughter, says they used the “vast majority” of the more than $120,000 meant for pandemic relief on “personal expenses.”
That included luxury Louis Vuitton items and Tiawana Brown’s lavish 50th birthday — complete with a throne and a horse-drawn carriage. Tijema Brown had a hand in securing more than $70,000, according to court documents filed last week.
Tiawana Brown, the former District 3 councilwoman, entered into a similar plea agreement in February after initially saying the charges were a political attack. She briefly appeared Wednesday in U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler’s courtroom with a young child while Tijema Brown entered her plea.
The child’s faint squeals could be heard through the courtroom’s double doors after Tiawana Brown took the child into the courthouse lobby.
“I’m not answering any questions,” Tijema Brown told The Charlotte Observer as she met the two outside.
Sentencing dates for mother and daughter have not yet been set. Rouse has not yet entered a plea.
This story was originally published April 1, 2026 at 1:41 PM.
