Suspended North Charleston councilmember, other alleged associates plead not guilty to federal corruption charges

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – One suspended North Charleston councilmember and three of his alleged associates pleaded not guilty to federal charges Tuesday following a year-long FBI corruption investigation.

The hearing was held after two former councilmembers and other associates pleaded guilty on Feb. 28 in their initial court appearances. Mike A. Brown, Rose Lorenzo, Michelle Stent-Hilton, and Hason Tatorian “Tory” Fields were released on unsecured bond varying from either $25,000 or $50,000 in their arraignment hearings.

“Just the conclusion of this first phase, which is each defendant appearing before the court, being advised against the charges against them. Then obviously, like you all heard in there, each was released on bond,” Whit Sowards, assistant U.S. attorney, said.

Brown pleaded not guilty to three counts of conspiracy, bribery, and wire fraud in his alleged role in a scheme to leverage his influence on city council in exchange for bribes. He has not resigned from his position on city council.

“We maintain innocence in this unfortunate situation. We’re going to work our way through it, we’re going to review the discovery, but at this point we maintain our innocence,” Todd Rutherford, Brown’s attorney, said. “We thank our community for their support and the family for their support as well.” 

Lorenzo and Stent-Hilton pleaded not guilty to nine charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, theft and money laundering involving federal funds. Additionally, Fields pleaded not guilty to three counts of conspiracy, bribery, and wire fraud for allegedly using bribes to influence a councilmember.

Both Brown and Fields were given an unsecured $50,000 bond while the other defendants were given an unsecured $25,000 bond.

“We very much defer to the court on bond issues oftentimes, we didn’t feel that either of these defendants were a danger to the community. We thought it was appropriate to set the same bond as the other two council members in this case,” said Emily Limehouse, assistant U.S. attorney.

Judge Cherry ruled that each defendant has approved travel with some restrictions varying on their situation, with court hearings taking priority over those trips.

Defendants will have a pre-trial conference with a district-appointed judge, with no date set yet.