A judge sentenced former Atlanta city attorney Shelitha Robertson to seven years in prison for stealing $15 million in pandemic relief funds.
Robertson, 62, broke down in tears at her sentencing hearing on Friday, June 7. She told the court she was “dead broke”.
“My business is gone. My (law) license is gone. My assets are gone. The only thing I have left is my family and my faith in God,” she said.
Robertson will receive credit for the six months she spent in jail since December.
In 2023, a jury convicted Robertson of spending nearly $8 million in PPP funds on a pink Rolls-Royce, a 10-carat diamond ring worth $150,000, and a motorcycle.
Robertson, a Democrat, is a former Assistant City Attorney and police officer. She campaigned unsuccessfully to be a Circuit Court judge in Fulton County in 2010 and 2014.
In April and May 2020, Robertson applied for millions of dollars in PPP loans for four businesses she said she owned.
Prosecutors say Robertson claimed she had over 300 employees. She listed a monthly payroll of $790,511 for her company, Atlanta Custom Motors.
Another company she owned, The Renee Group, listed a monthly payroll of $685,879.
Prosecutors tracked wire transfers for millions of dollars from Robertson’s bank account at one bank to at least 5 other banks.
Among the wire transfers she made was $1,917,677 to a bank in the Northern District of Georgia. The feds froze all of Robertson’s bank accounts and seized the funds.
“It was her level of direction and confidence in being able to commit this level of fraud without being detected that instigated it in the first place,” U.S. District Judge Steven D. Grimberg said in court.
Robertson clashed with her daughter, Brii Renee, in their “Mommy and Me” podcast. In one podcast (watch below), Robertson told Renee she didn’t like her between the ages of 12 to 17.
In another episode of the podcast from October 2023, Robertson advises followers to “chase their dream” because “the money will come”.
When you have a passion for something that you love, you can do it for free. Don’t ever chase the money. The money will come. Chase your passion, Chase your dream. The money will come,’ Robertson said.
Her daughter, who was born to Robertson and her wife via artificial insemination, posted a glowing tribute to her mother.
“I wouldn’t be who I am today without the amazing mother, example, hustler, you are!”, she wrote on Instagram.
“Thank you for every sacrifice you made and every dream you pushed me to achieve!”
