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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher sentenced Temitope Bashua, 29, a citizen of Nigeria, to 30 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for his role in a conspiracy and scheme to fraudulently obtain unemployment insurance benefits and Economic Injury Disaster Loans. According to his plea agreement, and other court documents, from May 2020 through September 2022, Bashua and others conspired to impersonate victims to obtain money by submitting fraudulent UI benefits claims.

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.

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.

Baltimore, Maryland – Edward McCorkle, 37, of Baltimore County, Maryland, pled guilty today, to one count of wire fraud, in connection with submitting fraudulent CARES Act loan applications. According to his plea agreement, beginning in May 2020, and continuing through February 2021 in the District of Maryland, McCorkle engaged in a scheme to defraud financial institutions — including Cross River Bank, and the SBA — to obtain fraudulent loans for various purported businesses that he previously established under the PPP and EIDL program.

Greenbelt, Maryland – District Judge Deborah L. Boardman sentenced Jemel Lyles, 43, of Washington, DC, to 66 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $281,947 in restitution, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. In his guilty plea, Lyles admitted to submitting applications for and receiving funds from six fraudulent CARES Act loans. Additionally, Lyles violated his supervised release from a previous federal conviction for obstruction of an audit.

Baltimore , Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced David Epstein, 46, of Owings Mills, Maryland, to one year and one day in federal prison and 12 months of home incarceration. The sentence is in connection with his previous guilty plea to one count of wire fraud for submitting fraudulent CARES Act loan applications.

Baltimore, Maryland – Today, Chief U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III, sentenced Ryan E. Dales, 36, of Baltimore, to 26 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Dales, a previously convicted felon, was charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm as a felon, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Lydia K. Griggsby sentenced Andra Shirone Thompson, 48, of Silver Spring, Maryland, to a year and a day for two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Thompson pled guilty to conspiring to defraud Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act loan programs and his role in a years-long scheme to defraud commercial equipment financing companies

Baltimore, Maryland – After a one-week trial, a federal jury found Nichelle Henson, age 38, of Baltimore, Maryland, guilty of making false statements and for bank fraud in connection with fraudulent applications Henson filed to obtain Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans in the names of multiple purported businesses that she had previously incorporated in the state of Maryland.

Baltimore, Maryland – Today, Melvin Thompson Jr., 34, of Chestertown, Maryland, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return in connection with submitting fraudulent loan applications.