A former treasurer who took $207,500 from a political committee supporting St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch’s reelection pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal wire fraud in a $1.4 million scheme that victimized about 20 clients, bolstering Welch’s contention that a thief wittingly targeted his campaign.

Yolanda Brown, also known as Yolanda Rumph, admitted to defrauding clients while operating a financial consulting business that gave her access to their accounts. Federal prosecutors said the scheme stretched over several years and included political clients.

The Pelican Political Action Committee reported $207,500 in unauthorized transactions involving OReilly Business LLC, a company registered to Brown, who was serving as the Welch committee’s treasurer and providing consulting services.

The loss came as Welch was preparing for reelection and left his political operation rebuilding its finances as former Gov. Charlie Crist mounted a well-funded challenge.

Crist entered the race with nearly $1.2 million while much of Welch’s political money had been fleeced by Welch’s former treasurer.

Months later, Welch had raised more than $406,000 cumulatively but had been forced to establish a new political committee after the unauthorized transactions. Welch was left to “start with peanuts” as Crist’s fundraising approached $2 million.

The theft followed earlier administrative problems involving a separate political committee associated with Welch. The original Pelican PAC had been “mired in regulatory trouble,” including missed filings and problems maintaining required officers before the state revoked it.

Welch’s newer committee also filed a finance report after a state deadline in June. His campaign attributed that delay to a family emergency.

Together, those episodes prompted questions about whether Welch could be the victim of Brown’s alleged theft while bearing responsibility for how his political operation handled its finances.

“Her guilty plea establishes something important: our campaign was the victim of theft,” Welch said. “It does not mean every question about campaign procedures is off limits, and I understand why people ask those questions.

“When we discovered the missing money, we brought the matter forward and cooperated with investigators,” Welch said. “Brown is responsible for the money she stole. My responsibility is to be transparent about what happened and make sure our campaign has strong safeguards going forward.”

By then, Welch’s political committee was far from the only organization accusing Brown of financial misconduct.

Brown, who operated Brown Financial & Consulting Services Group and worked with political campaigns and businesses around the country, had faced fraud and embezzlement allegations in at least four states. In California, she pleaded no contest in 2024 to felony embezzlement charges involving a nonprofit and a consulting firm and was ordered to pay $330,000 in restitution.

The allegations followed her into other political accounts. Florida political consultant Jamie Jodoin accused Brown of wiring $25,000 from another PAC account before closing it without notifying the candidate. In Pennsylvania, state Rep. Chris Rabb accused Brown of making unauthorized withdrawals while serving as treasurer of his congressional campaign. Rabb’s campaign ultimately identified more than $160,000 routed into an account Brown had established.

The federal case specifically identifies a U.S. House campaign in Pennsylvania among Brown’s victims.

“It shows this was a broader scheme carried out by Brown, not a problem unique to our campaign or evidence that I benefited from the missing money,” Welch said. “Our campaign was among those harmed.

“I feel that the truth has been established,” he continued. “From the beginning, I said our campaign was a victim of theft. Her guilty plea confirms that.”

The case does not dispose of questions about how Brown gained access to Welch’s political funds or the safeguards surrounding them.

“I respect voters who expect accountability from me. I expect it from myself,” Welch said. “But holding a leader accountable does not mean assigning that leader responsibility for someone else’s deliberate crime.”

For Welch, the response after discovering the loss is part of that accounting. His campaign reported the matter, cooperated with federal investigators and removed Brown from her role.

“Real leadership means bringing a difficult issue into the open, cooperating with the investigation, answering questions honestly and strengthening safeguards,” Welch said.

Brown is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 26 and faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years. Restitution remains another unresolved issue: The $207,500 taken from the Pelican Political Action Committee has not been returned.

“Justice means Brown is held accountable for what she did, and that every effort is made to return the money she took,” Welch told Poliverse. “An order to repay is an important step; actually making those who were harmed whole is the outcome we want.”