Memphis, TN — Senator Katrina Robinson from Tennessee is facing multiple federal charges after she reportedly stole over $600,000 in federal funds to use for her wedding and lavish lifestyle.
Robinson was accused of stealing $600,000 from the $2.2 million in federal grants provided to The Healthcare Institute, a nursing school she directed, from 2015 to 2019.
She apparently used the stolen money to cover her wedding and honeymoon costs, as well as the legal fees for her divorce. She also bought a 2016 Jeep Renegade for her daughter, a $500 Louis Vuitton handbag, home improvements, and invested in a snow cone business run by her children.
Robinson has been charged with theft, embezzlement, and wire fraud.
Despite the charges, she said she will continue to serve in the state legislature “with the same integrity, the same passion that I’ve demonstrated since you’ve elected me to this office.”
“It is believed that if I were not in the position that I’m in, that if I did not champion the voices, the views and the faces that I represent, that I would not be in this moment right now,” Robinson said.
Meanwhile, she pleaded not guilty in August. But if she’s found guilty, she faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.