Reports

On Oct. 27, a former corrections sergeant with the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department (MDCRD), was sentenced to 18 months in prison for COVID-19 relief fraud, followed by three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $432.051 in restitution.

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that SIEDAH ELEY, age 31, a resident of Columbia, Maryland, was sentenced on October 25, 2023 to five (5) years of probation by United States District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle after previously pleading guilty to a one-count bill of information charging her with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371 and 1343. The charge stems from ELEY’S role in preparing and filing false applications for loans related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). ELEY was also...

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that SHANIQUA PAGE WILSON, age 32, a resident of Odenton, Maryland, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371 and 1343. The charges stem from WILSON’S role in preparing and filing false applications for loans related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

NEW ORLEANS – BRIA PETERS, age 38, formerly of New Orleans, LA and now residing in Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty on October 18, 2023 to a one-count bill of information for making false statements related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) before U.S. District Court Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.

Six defendants have been indicted for their roles in a conspiracy that resulted in more than $240,000 in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans being issued under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Merton Weed Jr., 51, filed eight fraudulent PPP loan applications with different lenders and received over $240,000 in PPP funds. He faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Denis Casseus (44, Cape Coral) to two years in federal prison for bank fraud and an illegal monetary transaction. As part of his sentence, the court also entered an order of forfeiture in the amount of $298,875, the proceeds of the bank fraud. Casseus had pleaded guilty on May 23, 2023.