Tiawana Brown, a 55-year-old former Charlotte, North Carolina, city councilwoman, is set to avoid prison after reaching a plea agreement in her federal wire fraud case, despite admitting to stealing more than $100,000 in Covid-19 pandemic relief funds. She pleaded guilty earlier this year to wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud after falsifying information to secure the money, some of which she spent on her own birthday party. The case has drawn attention given the scale of the fraud and the leniency of the expected outcome, with sentencing due on 22 September before US District Judge Kenneth Bell.

Brown and her two daughters, Tijema and Antionette Rouse, ran the scheme from April 2020 to September 2021, exploiting the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Paycheck Protection Programmes by submitting fraudulent tax forms and lying about income and staff, netting at least $124,165. Roughly $15,000 went on a lavish birthday party featuring a venue, catering, photography, a balloon arch, a rose wall, a rented throne and a horse-drawn carriage, while funds were also spent on Louis Vuitton goods. Both daughters have since pleaded guilty, with Antoinette forced to forfeit $51,666, and all three are due to be sentenced on the same day. Brown, who previously served four years in federal prison for fraud in the 1990s, has continued posting about parties and her ongoing community involvement on social media.