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On May 11, 2017, Brown was convicted on 18 of 22 separate federal charges, including conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, tax crimes, and hiding income she should have publicly reported. The charges stemmed from an investigation into a charity called One Door for Education, which was set up for the education of underprivileged children. Investigators revealed that though the charity raised $833,000 over four years, it gave just $1,200 of that away in scholarships. The rest went to Brown and two co-conspirators: chief of staff Ronnie Simmons and charity founder Carla Wiley. In December 2017, Brown was sentenced to five years in prison. Brown's conviction was overturned in May 2021, when the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that a judge had erred in removing a juror in Brown's trial who had claimed that the "Holy Spirit" had told him that Brown was not guilty. The court ordered a new trial in a 7-4 decision.
