A Tennessee judge on Monday sentenced a woman to more than six years in federal prison and three more years of supervised release, for allegedly obtaining fraudulent coronavirus relief funds and later using them for personal luxuries, including plastic surgery and a stay at Trump’s resort in Sunny Isles Beach. , fl.
The woman identified by the US Department of Justice in a New release Leslie Bethea of Surgeonsville, Tennessee, was also indicted last June on federal charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements. The Justice Department said Bethea pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to a probation officer. In addition to her prison sentence, Bethea was ordered to pay approximately $21,000 in restitution.
Bethea, 30, is accused of providing false information and falsified financial records to the US government while applying for a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program, which she eventually got even though she was not eligible for it. Pakistan People’s Party, Small Business Loan Program With a US Treasury subsidy developed to support struggling companies in the aftermath of the pandemic, Bethea was awarded $20,805, according to the Justice Department — an amount based on her alleged false application.
Plaintiffs claimed criminal complaint that PPP’s Bethea loan application incorrectly stated that she earned $99,835 in 2019, including false tax documents intended to substantiate that number, and claimed that she had not been convicted of fraud at any time in the past five years. However, the complaint notes that Bethea was in prison in Tennessee for the duration of 2019, and entered a mandatory period of supervised release in October 2020 that required her to file legitimate monthly reports with her supervising probation officer.
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In April of the following year, financial records allegedly show Bethea traveled to Sunny Isles Beach and booked accommodations for five nights at the Trump International Beach Resort, which cost in excess of $2,800, according to the criminal complaint. During her trip to Florida, prosecutors also allege Bethea used approximately $5,500 in PPP funds to pay for an elective cosmetic procedure at a facility in the area.
Along with the alleged misuse of federal funds, Bethea was charged with violating the terms of her supervised release by making false statements to a probation officer.
“Between or about May 5, 2021, and May 20, 2021 in Greenville, Tennessee in the Eastern District of Tennessee, Leslie Bethea knowingly filed and knowingly filed the Monthly Supervision Report for the month of April 2021 and did so and there is a materially, graphic, and fraudulently false statement [sic]says the complaint.
He notes that Bethea signed a waiver upon meeting with his probation officer in May 2021, which warns that potential consequences for making false statements include five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.
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