Reports

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox sentenced Lakeisha Parker, 33, of Baltimore, Maryland, to three years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, including six months of home detention, for her role in a large, multi-member money laundering conspiracy. Judge Maddox also ordered Parker to pay more than $8 million in restitution.

KAREN GASTON, 45, of East Granby, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sarah F. Russell in New Haven to three years of probation for defrauding COVID-19 pandemic relief programs of more than $1.1 million. During her probation, Gaston was ordered to serve four weekends of incarceration, 10 months in home detention, and 500 hours of community service.

Briauna Adams, 29, Kansas City, Mo., woman sentenced to 11 years imprisonment for her leadership role in two cases that resulted in more than $500,000 in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans being issued under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and more than $3,000,000 in stolen Treasury checks.

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Harold Dotson, 54, of Gaithersburg Maryland, to three years in federal prison, followed by three years supervised release — including six months of home confinement — in connection with a conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting financial institutions. The fraud involved submitting more than $24 million in fraudulent CARES Act loan applications.

Two of the defendants are also charged with fraudulently obtaining Covid-relief loans.

BOSTON – The founder and former Chief Executive Officer of the local nonprofit Violence in Boston (VIB) pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to making misrepresentations in order to obtain thousands of dollars in donations to non-profit Violence in Boston (VIB) that she then diverted to pay for personal expenses, defrauding the City of Boston out of COVID-19 relief funds and rental assistance money, defrauding the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office out of Community Reinvestment Grant funds, filing false tax return for two years, and failing to file tax returns for two years.

BOSTON – An Easton man was convicted today, following an eight-day trial of using Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds to secretly purchase a home in the name of a close relative.