Reports

Three individuals were sentenced yesterday for their participation in a scheme to defraud the Georgia Department of Labor (GaDOL), out of tens of millions of dollars in benefits meant to assist unemployed individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABINGDON, Va. – The final defendant charged in a 17-member conspiracy that defrauded the United States, committed program fraud and mail fraud in connection with a scheme involving the filing of fraudulent claims for pandemic unemployment benefits pled guilty today in U.S. District Court in Abingdon.

A Kansas City, Mo., woman was sentenced in federal court today for filing a false claim as part of a scheme to fraudulently receive approximately $62,811.75 in COVID-19 relief funds from the government.

A Hollywood man who admitted to seeking more than $65 million from the IRS by falsely claiming on tax returns that his nonexistent farming business was entitled to COVID-19-related tax credits was sentenced today to 57 months in federal prison.

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Ronnie Lamar Strawberry, Jr., 39, of Los Angeles, California was sentenced on May 19, 2025, by Senior United States District Judge G. Murray Snow to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay $528,426 in restitution. Strawberry pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud. His sister, Raychelle Strawberry, who pleaded guilty to the same charge, was sentenced on the same day to 60 months of probation for her role in the offense.

Yesterday, Tramaine Liptrot, 43, a police officer with the City of Miami Police Department (MPD) who has been relieved of duty, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with fraudulent applications for two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling over $200,000.