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Pardoned for his crimes, DeAndre Brown built a life helping other former inmates. That changed abruptly this past week.

By , Daily Memphian Updated: September 04, 2025 11:13 AM CT | Published: August 31, 2025 4:00 AM CT

Former public official DeAndre Brown and his wife Vinessa Brown were charged with misusing $1.38 million in public money. The pair ran the Lifeline to Success non-profit, which is now also under scrutiny.

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Lifeline to Success DeAndre Brown Vinessa Brown Tennessee Comptroller Subscriber Only

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Bill Dries

Bill Dries

Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.

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