State Sen. Katrina Robinson testified in her own defense Tuesday, Sept. 28, as the final witness in the federal wire fraud and embezzlement case against her. 

Robinson, 40, who represents state Senate District 33, denied using federal grant money intended for her business, The Healthcare Institute, on personal expenses. She also denied fabricating students at the school.

Federal authorities allege Robinson misspent about $600,000 in federal grant funding on personal expenses. Fifteen of the 20 counts against her were dismissed by U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman under a motion from defense attorneys after prosecutors finished presenting their case last week. Lipman said the government had failed to prove its case on the counts that were dismissed.

Judge grants acquittal on 15 charges against Robinson

“The investigation has changed everything for The Healthcare Institute and for me and my family,” Robinson said during testimony. “The government alleged I stole $600,000, and I didn’t.”

Asked by her defense team if she had been wrongly accused, Robinson responded: “I have been dragged through the mud by the federal government when the federal government knew good and well that I did not do that.”

When Larry Laurenzi, a member of her defense team, asked Robinson if she spent grant funds on her wedding, she said “absolutely not.”

“My father would turn over in his grave if he thought I married a man who couldn’t pay for a wedding,” she said.

Robinson added that wedding expenses were paid out of her business bank account, and her former husband made cash deposits into the account to cover those expenses.

“We had just started a joint account and the down payment for our house was in that joint account,” she said. “Instead of us writing checks out of that joint account, we wrote checks from the business account and then put the money into the business account.” 

Robinson said in financial statements, expenses were split into categories. All expenses for the school were under the THI category while expenses for grant funding was under a GOV category.

She said as the sole owner of THI, she spent the profits from her business on expenses and not grant money. 

Asked where the profits came from, Robinson said nursing school tuition was used. She said the school was successful and had $1 million in revenue in its first few years.

Robinson said she started the school in 2015 to help people in underserved communities get into the health care field, and she was proud of the school and all she had accomplished.

Prosecutors wrap up case against Katrina Robinson

“We went from two students that first year to exponential growth in two years,” she said.

When Laurenzi asked about allegations made by Richard Haines, a special agent with the federal Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, she said the allegations were unfounded. Haines testified that he found 30 student IDs he couldn’t match to students in the nursing program.

Robinson denied creating fictitious students, however, saying the program graduated 575 nursing students in the first few years.

She told jurors the reason Haines couldn’t find student ID numbers was because he was looking under Social Security numbers instead.

Prosecutors will begin cross-examination of Robinson Wednesday, Sept. 29.