HARRISON COUNTY, Miss. (WLOX) — A contractor who calls himself a reverend is accused of taking thousands of dollars from multiple Coast families — leaving nothing to show for it.
After WLOX Investigates received a complaint about contractor Joseph “Joe” Brown, the team uncovered a startling pattern of unpaid bills, unfinished projects, and devastated customers.
Joseph “Joe” Brown / Unfinished project at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Long Beach(WLOX)
Members of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Long Beach have spent two decades worshiping in a trailer, dreaming of building a new church.
Cornerstone Baptist Church’s current trailer(WLOX)
Cornerstone Baptist Church’s current trailer(WLOX)
Cornerstone Baptist Church’s current trailer(WLOX)
In December 2023, Pastor Mary Simpson said she thought she had finally found the man who could make that dream a reality.
“He said his name was Reverend Joseph Brown,” Simpson said. “And so he came in, met with the church, and everybody agreed to let him build our church.”
The 4,800-square-foot church would cost nearly $279,000.
The Property Turn Key Construction Management Service construction proposal that Cornerstone Church signed off on, for $278,400.(WLOX)
Cornerstone Baptist Church building plans(WLOX)
Cornerstone Baptist Church building plans(WLOX)
Months after paying Brown and his company, Property Turn Key Construction Management Service, $69,000 to get started, little work had been done.
“It was very hurting to see… supposed to be a man of God,” Simpson said. “And we took him at his word.”
The work that had been done at Cornerstone Church’s property by the time they filed the lawsuit(WLOX)
Simpson said Brown also presented himself as a licensed and insured contractor. However, Mississippi State Board of Contractors (MSBOC) records show Brown has never been licensed in Mississippi.
Court documents show Brown also told the church he would take care of all the permits needed for the project. According to the City of Long Beach, Brown never secured a building permit.
Brown hired Seals Trucking & Dirt Works for more than $16,300 to help prepare the land, but Seals employees say they were never paid.
Seals Trucking & Dirt Works(WLOX)
“We did the dirt, finished it within a couple of weeks… $16,000 and some change that he owes me,” Ron Seals said. “Never, never paid.”
Ron Seals of Seals Trucking & Dirt Work(WLOX)
One of two invoices sent to Joseph Brown by Seals Trucking & Dirt Works for the Cornerstone Baptist Church project.(WLOX)
For months, Seals said Brown told him he couldn’t pay because the church had not paid him yet.
Ron Seals scrolling through text messages between himself and Joseph Brown(WLOX)
Texts between Ron Seals and Joe Brown(WLOX)
After months of excuses from Brown, Seals said he confronted Mary Simpson about the money.
“Miss Mary then tells me that he has been paid lots of money,” Seals said. “I should have been paid, never have. He was just lying the whole time. Lying to me, lying to Miss Mary.”
Seals mailed four letters to Brown, demanding the money he was owed, but they were all returned to sender. Finally, in November 2024, Seals filed a lawsuit against Brown and his company.
Two of the four letters sent by Seals’ attorney to Joseph Brown, demanding the money they were owed.(WLOX)
For Cornerstone, the problems were far from over. In September 2024, after the church had already paid Brown $69,000, Brown filed a construction lien against the church for nearly $378,000.
“He put a lien on our church like we owe him, and we had already done gave him $69,000,” Simpson said.
Cornerstone Baptist Church’s current trailer(WLOX)
According to court documents, Brown continued to harass the church and demand the church pay him even more money, even threatening to sell the property from under the church even though he had no basis to do so.
The church filed a lawsuit against Brown in December 2024.
Work done on the church’s property as of 2026(WLOX)
Finally, in May 2025, a judge ordered Brown to pay Cornerstone Baptist Church more than $1.2 million, including damages and other costs.
“And he has not paid a dime,” Simpson said.
As WLOX Investigates dug deeper into Brown’s history, the team found numerous arrests, including for various theft-related charges, in Mississippi and Georgia.
Joseph Brown has been arrested numerous times, including for various theft-related charges, in Mississippi and Georgia.(WLOX)
Plus, the Cornerstone Baptist Church family was not the first to take him to court.
“He ruined our life,” said Gulfport resident Joan Gosnell.
Kenneth and Joan Gosnell say they met Brown back in 2017, when he came to their Gulfport home to paint cabinets. Joan said Brown told them he also built patios.
Joan and Kenneth Gosnell(WLOX)
“He told us he was a pastor,” Joan said. “He was very nice and charming and polite.”
What began as an $8,000 backyard project quickly grew larger and more expensive.
Court records show the Gosnells initially paid Brown $4,000 for materials and $4,000 for labor. Costs were increased to $20,200 after the Gosnells decided to add some other features to their deck.
Brown continued to demand payments, according to court documents, yet very little work was actually accomplished. When the Gosnells approached Brown about the lack of work, he said he wouldn’t continue building until they paid him another $30,000.
“He kept asking for money and I said, well, you need to do this. And then he said, well, I need more money to do that,” Joan said. “And then it never got done. And then he found another project to do, and it just went on and on.”
Joan and Kenneth Gosnell with WLOX reporter Raylen Ladner(WLOX)
According to court documents, Brown also told the Gosnells he wasn’t able to provide any accounting for what he had spent the money on.
Records show the Gosnells ended up paying Brown more than $44,700 for the job.
The work was left unfinished and, according to the Gosnells, performed so poorly that it all had to be removed.
The Gosnells filed criminal home repair fraud charges against Brown in 2019, but he was ultimately not indicted.
2019: The Gosnells filed criminal home repair fraud charges against Brown in 2019, but he was ultimately not indicted.(Harrison County Sheriff’s Department)
“Apparently, they said there wasn’t enough evidence to convict,” Kenneth said.
“They just dropped everything and let him go,” Joan said.
The Gosnells then filed a civil suit against Brown, the company — at the time, Brown J. Construction — and his wife, Darlene Brown, seeking damages and an accounting of where their money went.
Years later, the emotion is still raw for the Gosnells.
“He just took what he could take and really just ruined my life,” Joan said.
The Gosnells’ attorney Ben Bowden said ultimately the civil suit was dropped when it became clear there was no way to get the money from Brown.
However, Cornerstone Church won its case in May 2025, and Brown was ordered to pay more than $1.2 million.
Joseph Brown and his company, Property Turn Key Construction Management, were ordered to pay Cornerstone Church more than $1.2 million.(WLOX)
But Bowden said a judgment only establishes what someone owes, and actually collecting the money is another battle.
“Even though you may win a case or get a judgment against some contractors, there’s really not a mechanism to collect, because they don’t have the financial wherewithal,” Bowden said.
That’s the reality Ron Seals said he has already accepted.
“I doubt we are going to get anything out of him,” Seals said. “It’s just water under the bridge… lost money now.”
Bowden said cases like these are also a reminder to verify a contractor’s license and insurance.
“Don’t pay until the job is done or until that stage of the contract previously agreed upon with the contractor and the homeowner is performed — and performed to your satisfaction,” Bowden said.
For these victims, that warning is now part of why they agreed to tell their stories.
“Hopefully people get this and see, not to mess with Joe Brown,” Seals said.
“They deserve to go to h— jail,” Kenneth Gosnell said.
“Mr. Brown, I hope you get what’s coming to you,” Joan Gosnell said.
Some may question why situations like these don’t automatically result in criminal charges. Attorney Ben Bowden said there is an important distinction between a civil dispute and a criminal case.
Prosecutors would have to establish criminal intent, for example, that someone took money while never intending to perform the promised work.
Bowden said if you believe you’re a victim of contractor fraud, contact law enforcement, the MSBOC or the Mississippi Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division.
In Mississippi, you can also perform a licensed contractor search on the MSBOC website.
In February 2025, a bench warrant was issued for Brown’s arrest after he failed to appear in court for an indictment on two counts of receiving stolen property. In that case, he is accused of “unlawfully, willfully and feloniously” possessing an 18-karat gold bracelet and a Rolex oyster perpetual watch, according to court documents.
Based on the records WLOX Investigates found, it doesn’t appear that Brown has yet been arrested on that warrant. The team has attempted to reach Joseph Brown through several phone calls, leaving multiple voicemails asking for his response to the allegations and court cases filed against him. So far, we have not received a response.
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