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Katrina Robinson (born January 13, 1981) is an American former politician who served in the
Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...
from the 33rd district from 2019 to 2022 as a member of the Democratic Party. She was the first sitting member of the state senate to be indicted since
Operation Tennessee Waltz Operation Tennessee Waltz was a sting operation set up by federal and state law enforcement agents, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). The operation led to the arrest of seven Tennesse ...
and later became the first person to ever be expelled from the state senate. Robinson was born in
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
, educated at the
University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...
and
Union University Union University is a private Baptist university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It was estab ...
, and founded a nursing college in 2015. She was elected to the state senate in the 2018 election after defeating incumbent Senator
Reginald Tate Reginald Tate (13 December 1896 – 23 August 1955) was an English actor and a veteran of many roles on stage, in films and on television. He is remembered best as the first actor to play the television science-fiction character Professor ...
in the Democratic primary. Robinson was indicted on forty-eight charges relating to the embezzlement of $600,000 from federal grants to her nursing school in 2020. The charges against her were reduced to twenty before Judge Sheryl H. Lipman acquitted her on fifteen charges. She was found guilty on four counts of wire fraud in 2021.


Early life and education

Katrina Robinson was born on January 13, 1981, in
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
. Her sister, Sherra Wright-Robinson, was the wife of professional basketball player
Lorenzen Wright Lorenzen Vern-Gagne Wright (November 4, 1975 – July 19, 2010) was an American professional basketball player for thirteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted seventh overall in the 1996 NBA draft by the Los An ...
and Sherra was convicted for his murder. From 1998 to 2008, she attended the
University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...
and graduated with a
Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...
in marketing management. In 2010, she graduated from
Union University Union University is a private Baptist university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It was estab ...
with a
Bachelor of Science in Nursing The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN, BScN) also known in some countries as a Bachelor of Nursing (BN) or Bachelor of Science (BS) with a Major in Nursing is an academic degree in the science and principles of nursing, granted by an accredited ...
.


Career


Nursing college

In 2015, Robinson founded The Healthcare Institute, a nursing college, and received $1.6 million in grants from the
United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...
. She received a total of $2.2 million in federal grants from 2015 to 2019. The Healthcare Institute started with two students and later expanded to over six hundred students.


Tennessee Senate

In 2018, Robinson was elected to the
Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...
from the 33rd district as a member of the Democratic Party. On January 29, 2018, Robinson announced that she would run in the Democratic primary. She defeated incumbent Senator
Reginald Tate Reginald Tate (13 December 1896 – 23 August 1955) was an English actor and a veteran of many roles on stage, in films and on television. He is remembered best as the first actor to play the television science-fiction character Professor ...
in the Democratic primary and faced no opposition in the general election. Tate had been censured by the Shelby County Democratic Party and Robinson was endorsed by United States Representative
Steve Cohen Steve, Steven or Stephen Cohen may refer to: Sportspeople * Steve Cohen (gymnast) (born 1946), American Olympic gymnast * Steve Cohen (judoka) (born 1955), American judoka and Olympian * Steve Cohen (wrestler) (born 1963), South African wrestler be ...
and Senate Minority Leader
Sara Kyle Sara Peery Kyle (born October 21, 1952) is an American attorney and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she currently represents the 30th district in the Tennessee Senate. She became the second woman elected to statewide office in Te ...
.


Criminal conviction

In 2016, an investigation into Robinson was started after an anonymous complaint to the
United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...
reported that she had used $550 of federal grant money to purchase a
Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ...
handbag. On February 21 and July 28, 2020, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
executed
search warrant A search warrant is a court order that a magistrate or judge issues to authorize Police, law enforcement officers to conduct a Search and seizure, search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to Confiscation, confiscate an ...
s at Robinson's house and
nursing school Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...
. On July 30, Robinson was indicted on 48 charges, 24 charges of
theft Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shor ...
and
embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...
from government programs, and 24 charges of
wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...
, in the
United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee The United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee (in case citations, W.D. Tenn.) is the federal district court covering the western part of the state of Tennessee. Appeals from the Western District of Tennessee are taken to ...
. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that her expenses included a trip to
Montego Bay Montego Bay () is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth most populous urban area in the country, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore ...
,
Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
which lasted six days, $2,929.26 spent at
Wayfair Wayfair Inc. is an American e-commerce company based in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts that sells furniture and home goods online. Formerly known as CSN Stores, it was founded in 2002, and currently offers 14 million items from more than 11,000 gl ...
, $856 spent on a
Carnival Cruise Line Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel (ship), funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue colo ...
, and $54,000 for a retirement fund. Robinson was accused of stealing $600,000 from $2.2 million in federal grants given to her nursing school from 2015 to 2019. She was the first sitting member of the Tennessee Senate to be indicted since
Operation Tennessee Waltz Operation Tennessee Waltz was a sting operation set up by federal and state law enforcement agents, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). The operation led to the arrest of seven Tennesse ...
in 2005. On August 12, 2020, she pleaded not guilty, but was found guilty on four of the five charges of wire fraud on September 30, 2021. The forty-eight charges were reduced to twenty charges and Judge Sheryl H. Lipman acquitted her of fifteen of the counts stating that the evidence matched to different theories which could cause a mistrial if theories were switched during the trial. She was sentenced on March 18, 2022 to one year supervised release. A federal case against her, Katie Ayers, and Brooke Boudreaux was dismissed by Lipman after Robinson agreed to complete at twelve month diversion period. Lieutenant Governor
Randy McNally James Rand McNally III (born January 30, 1944) is an American politician. He is the 50th Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee, lieutenant governor of Tennessee. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he has been the s ...
called for Robinson to resign following her conviction. Robinson claims that she was "targeted for prosecution" and Representative Torrey Harris opposes forcing her out of the legislature and claimed that "there was no evidence presented that she misappropriated less than $3,500 from her own business". Robinson became the first member of the state senate to be expelled when the state senate voted twenty-seven to five, with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats voting against, on February 2, 2022, to remove her.


Campaign funding disclosure lawsuit

In February 2023, Robinson was sued by the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance to collect financial penalties resulting from her failure to file 2020 and 2021 financial disclosures documents. Robinson was initially assessed a $7,500 fine in August, 2021 for not filing required campaign disclosure documents for 2020. The registry then added a $10,000 fine after Robinson again failed to submit the documents in 2021.
Tennessee Attorney General The Tennessee attorney general (officially, attorney general and reporter) is the chief law enforcement officer and lawyer for the U.S. state of Tennessee. The office of the attorney general is located at the state capitol in Nashville, Tennessee ...
Jonathan Skrmetti Jonathan Thomas Skrmetti (born 1977) is an American attorney and public official. He serves as the 28th Attorney General and Reporter for the state of Tennessee. Education Skrmetti earned degrees from George Washington University and Hertford ...
's office is prosecuting the case.


Electoral history


References


External links

*
Katrina Robinson campaign website

Katrina Robinson on Twitter

Department of Justice news release
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Katrina 1981 births 21st-century American women politicians Living people Politicians from Memphis, Tennessee Democratic Party Tennessee state senators Women state legislators in Tennessee Expelled members of the Tennessee General Assembly Politicians convicted of mail and wire fraud Tennessee politicians convicted of crimes African-American state legislators in Tennessee 21st-century African-American women politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly Union University alumni