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COLUMBUS, Ga. – Four Georgia men who conspired to defraud taxpayers by unlawfully claiming millions in pandemic relief funds designed to help small businesses and workers have been sentenced to prison following a National Fraud Enforcement Division investigation that stemmed from Operation Sweet Silence, a major organized crime takedown in Columbus.

A jailed South Los Angeles gang leader, music label owner, and purported anti-gang activist awaiting a federal trial was charged today with seven additional federal felonies, including that he solicited two fellow jail inmates to murder or seriously injure a witness against him and attempting to tamper with that witness’s testimony.

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Mohammed Maio, 43, of Phoenix, Arizona, pleaded guilty earlier this month to Conspiracy to Commit Wire and Bank Fraud and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering. Mohammed Maio also pleaded guilty in a second matter to Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and Aiding Another in Making a Materially False Statement to Purchase a Firearm.

BOSTON – The owner of a Sudbury accounting firm and a real estate company was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for paying an executive more than $1.6 million in compensation and fringe benefits under the table, and to making a fraudulent application for more than $179,000 in pandemic relief through a multi-year scheme.

Jedrek Upton, 45, of Lincoln, was sentenced today to one year in prison to be followed by 36 months supervised release, of which 12 months are to be spent on home detention, for wire fraud and money laundering in a scheme to steal nearly $1.5 million of COVID-relief loans.

United States Attorney Scott F. Leary announced today that Patricia Jones, 44, of Lamar, Benton County, Mississippi was sentenced by Senior District Judge Sharion Aycock. After pleading guilty on an earlier date, Jones was sentenced to 50 months imprisonment, 3 years supervised release and ordered to pay $1,422,022 to her victims.