A Bedford County man pleaded guilty to wire fraud in federal court last week, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Emmett Staton of Forest, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty to a one-count Information charging him with wire fraud.
Recommended Videos
Staton faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing, and a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was a COVID-19 pandemic relief program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) that provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses.
According to court documents, on January 21, 2021, Staton submitted an application for a $25,00 loan through the PPP for a lawncare business he purported to own. On the application, Staton falsely certified that the business had not permanently closed when he actually had not owned the business.
The DOJ said Staton falsely claimed the business had four employees and an average monthly payroll of $10,000. Staton used the loan proceeds for personal expenses, including gambling expenditures.
We’re told Staton also caused a second PPP loan application to be submitted in January 2021 using the name of another individual who was purported to be the owner of a daycare business. The application sought $14,000 in PPP funds to cover its three employees and an average monthly payroll of $5,600 when the daycare business hadn’t existed.
The FBI investigated the case and the Office of the United States Bankruptcy Trustee referred the case to the United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution.