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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – On October 13, 2026, MARCEL GROSS (“GROSS”), age 56, of Slidell, was sentenced on October 13, 2026 by U.S. District Judge Darrel James Papillion, to four years’ probation and the payment of $350,272 in restitution, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle.

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.

A Texas City, Texas, woman, Dorothy Barber, 54, was sentenced last week to 18 months of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for wire fraud.

Pensacola, Florida – Ray Anthony Pearson II, 32, of Navarre, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of wire fraud involving Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan funds. This prosecution was part of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud launched by President Donald J. Trump, a whole-of-government effort to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

A Riverside County man pleaded guilty today – making him the third defendant in his case to plead guilty this week – to fraudulently obtaining from COVID-19 business-relief loans then helping others fraudulently obtain COVID business loans in exchange for a cut of the illicit proceeds, causing a total loss to taxpayers of approximately $3.5 million.

Araceli Benitez pleaded guilty in federal court to two charges related to Paycheck Protection Program fraud