ATLANTA — An imprisoned former Jacksonville City Councilmember – says she was convicted in error.
Katrina Brown has filed paperwork with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, arguing that her conviction should be overturned.
The legal brief lists five arguments challenging her conviction, including that she should not have been allowed to represent herself during closing arguments without her standby lawyer present. The brief also says Brown should have been tried separately from her codefendant, former City Councilmember Reginald Brown.
The two are not related, but were romantically involved.
They were jointly convicted in 2019 of 70 counts of fraud and money laundering in a scheme involving government loans and grants for personal gain.
The money was intended to create 56 jobs on the city’s northwest side through Katrina Brown’s family barbecue sauce business.
No jobs were ever created.
Brown was sentenced to 33 months in prison, which she began serving in January.
Federal prosecutors have not yet filed a response.