JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Former Jacksonville City councilman Reggie Brown has filed a new motion aimed at delaying a forfeiture order against his home. His motion also suggests he plans to argue he had ineffective counsel from his court-appointed attorney at his 2019 federal trial on conspiracy and fraud charges.
Brown filed a similar motion on Friday, asking that the forfeiture order be suspended until his appeals process is complete. While the 11th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals denied his initial appeal last year, Brown has asked the court’s full panel of judges to rehear the case.
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A judge had issued a preliminary forfeiture order as part of Brown’s sentence for his home on Ray Road to be forfeited to the federal government and sold. The net proceeds will go toward Brown’s order of forfeiture, which is over $411,000.
Reggie Brown and former Jacksonville City Councilwoman Katrina Brown, who is not related, were convicted in 2019 on federal charges including conspiracy and fraud, related to a federally-backed loan and city grant for Katrina Brown’s family’s barbecue sauce business.
They were eventually sentenced in fall 2020 and they started their sentences in January 2021. Reggie Brown was given 18 months in prison, and Katrina Brown was given 33 months in prison. Reggie Brown was released from prison on January 14.
Reggie Brown’s two motions both reference a Form 2255, a motion that can be filed in federal cases to overturn a conviction based on ineffective counsel. Reggie Brown writes that he had been informed by his court-appointed attorney for the appeals process — a different attorney than his lawyer at trial — that the motion can’t be filed until appeals are completed.
The latest motion outlines concerns that Reggie Brown plans to address when he does file a Form 2255 motion, including:
- His attorney used terms that set a “bad atmosphere” for the case, under a strategy of conceding guilt, while Reggie Brown has maintained his innocence.
- Failing to investigate how some funds were disbursed.
- Not objecting to certain bank statements being submitted as evidence when they were outside of the charges in the indictment.
- Failing to inform the court that Katrina Brown was willing to testify on behalf of Reggie Brown, if their cases were severed.
Reggie Brown also writes that if the forfeiture proceeds, that he will be homeless, creating an additional hardship on his transition from prison back to the community. He suggests an alternative of placing a lien on his home until his forfeiture is paid in full.
He also writes that he is prepared to make his monthly payments of $150 toward restitution, which are supposed to begin in February, while he exhausts all legal remedies in his case.