Ex-North Charleston councilman complies with court order in assault judgment case

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) — A former North Charleston city councilman appeared in court Wednesday for a hearing in connection to a 2021 incident at one of his formerly owned restaurants.

Mike A. Brown lost a civil case in 2023 in which he was ordered to pay nearly $1 million to two women, Tess Singleton and Benquetta White, who were assaulted at Blue Note Bistro in North Charleston.

Brown was arrested on Aug. 3, accused of not turning over financial documents as ordered by the court in connection with the civil lawsuit.

Brown’s legal team filed a motion to reconsider his bench warrant, stating the majority of the missing financial records have now been turned over.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Brown and his attorney, Trimeia Frazier, handed over a check for $7,200 in attorney fees for Jesse Sanchez, who represents the two women assaulted in 2021.

In previous hearings, it has been ordered by the court, and Brown has agreed previously, to handing over tax forms and passwords and usernames for necessary logins. However, Sanchez, said they were in need of additional verification. Under oath, Brown said he will provide the two-step verification code so Sanchez can access his tax forms.

Singleton and White filed a lawsuit against Blue Note Bistro in 2022. Judge Mikell Scarborough said this is his oldest pending proceeding, dating to when the judgment was made in October 2023.

The payment of more than $965,077.65 has still gone unpaid, but Brown said he intends to figure out a payment plan and will work to get it resolved.

Jesse Sanchez, the plaintiffs’ attorney, spoke about the hearing.

“We are very thankful to the court for taking this matter up. Residents of Charleston County are very fortunate to have a place where things can be sorted out the way they were here today. We stand committed to pursuing this judgment that we have against Mr. Brown and his co-defendants. And this is just one more step in that process,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez also brought up the difference in Brown’s words in federal court from the corruption case when he said he operates two other businesses, Gullah and Groves as well as Good Vibes. Only whereas now he stands by the fact that he is not and has never been a manager or owner.

According to documents from the North Charleston corruption case handed in federal court, it says Brown and his wife jointly operate two restaurants.

“The businesses require that one of them be physically present at all times; the restaurants cannot run themselves, and the employees who depend on those two locations for a paycheck depend, in turn, on Mr. Brown and his wife being there,” documents state.

Sanchez asked Brown while he was under oath if he could explain what this meant, in which he said there was a misunderstanding of wording from those attorneys. On the stand, he said the point of that document was for the purpose to ensure his family was taken care of.

“It’s been a long-standing question for us what entities Mr. Brown is involved with. Uh and we’ve seen some things said in this court and other things said across the street in the federal court. And we’re just trying to reconcile that for our clients so we can get to the bottom of it,” Sanchez said.

Additionally, Sanchez said he does not wish to speak negatively of Brown.

Brown’s attorney declined to comment when asked for a statement.

The hearing comes ahead of the start of Brown’s sentencing this week on an unrelated corruption case.

In June, Brown was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for his role in the North Charleston corruption scheme. He was ordered to pay $10,000 in fines, $100 in special assessment and will have to work 100 hours of community service.

Brown pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery with respect to programs receiving federal funds and honest services wire fraud. It is unknown when he will report to federal prison to serve his sentence.