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A New Jersey man who obtained more than $2.1 million in fraudulent COVID-19 relief funds was sentenced on October 28, 2026 to 78 months in prison, three years’ supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,131,747 in restitution.

A federal grand jury returned a 10-count indictment against a North Texas resident for allegedly defrauding pandemic relief programs of more than $680,000. April Watson, 50, also known as “April Watson Horton” and “April Shawnette Watson,” is charged with four counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and four counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity (money laundering).

U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Timothy Wadsworth, 35, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, was sentenced to serve 51 months in prison and pay $810,965.19 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. In addition, Wadsworth was ordered to forfeit $810,956.19, which represents the wire fraud proceeds he received. This case is part of the Trump Administration’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.

PHOENIX, Ariz. –Mohammed Maio, 44, of Phoenix, was sentenced yesterday by United States District Judge Michael T. Liburdi to 10 years in prison. Maio previously pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Wire and Bank Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering, Bank Fraud, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and Materially False Statement During the Acquisition of a Firearm.

KENNETH DENNING, 69, of Holland, Massachusetts, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven to 16 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for offenses stemming from his operation of the Electric Blue, a strip club in Tolland, Connecticut, where he and his employees promoted and facilitated prostitution.

Today, the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division along with the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the SBA Office of Inspector General, as part of a Heartland Fraud Surge announced the results of Operation No Doze, a surge of criminal enforcement actions targeting fraud in SBA’s small business COVID-era loan programs.

BOSTON – The Massachusetts State Representative for the 16th Essex District, representing Lawrence and Methuen, was arrested today and charged with fraudulently obtaining over $700,000 in COVID unemployment insurance benefits and small-business loans, and using the proceeds to buy real estate and loan money to clients of his mortgage business, before he was elected to public office.

BOSTON – The Mayor of Lawrence, Mass., has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston. The 11-count indictment, unsealed today, charges the Mayor with allegedly obtaining over $1.5 million in COVID small-business loans. It is alleged that the money was used to fund his campaign account, pay personal taxes and pay more than $880,000 in high-interest, hard-money mortgages on properties he owned in Lawrence.

Jurors deliberated for about an hour before finding Kenneth C. Sparks III guilty of 20 counts.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - An Anchorage businesswoman was sentenced today to 3.8 years in prison for lying on federal loan applications and stealing identities to fraudulently obtain nearly $1 million in COVID-19 relief funds.