Jasmine Spencer, a 32-year-old resident of Charleston, West Virginia, was sentenced to six months of home detention and three years of supervised release for her involvement in a COVID-19 relief fraud scheme. She was also ordered to pay $15,625 in restitution after admitting to aiding and abetting bank fraud.
Court records show that Spencer received $15,625 from a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the CARES Act. The case involved co-defendant Kisha Sutton, who conspired with Spencer and others to obtain false PPP loans. On May 27, 2021, Sutton submitted an application on behalf of Spencer claiming she was a sole proprietor hair stylist with $75,000 in gross income for 2020. An IRS Form 1040 attached to the application supported this claim.
Spencer later admitted she never earned that amount as a hair stylist and that the tax form used was fabricated solely for the purpose of securing the loan. A lender in California approved the application and deposited $15,625 into Spencer’s personal accounts on June 28, 2021. Between June 30 and July 9 of that year, Spencer transferred $3,000 from these funds to Sutton using a digital wallet app; she spent the rest on personal expenses.
The CARES Act provided forgivable PPP loans to qualifying individuals affected by the pandemic who could demonstrate prior business income through documentation from either 2019 or 2020.
Spencer and Sutton were among several people indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiring to obtain fraudulent PPP loans totaling $140,625. On July 15, Sutton—who is from Jersey City, New Jersey—was found guilty by a federal jury of aiding and abetting bank fraud as well as laundering monetary instruments following a two-day trial. Her sentencing is scheduled for November 13. Three other co-defendants pleaded guilty.
Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston announced the sentence and recognized investigative efforts by the FBI, West Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), and West Virginia State Auditor’s Office Public Integrity and Fraud Unit (PIFU).
United States District Judge Irene C. Berger imposed the sentence in this case prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan T. Storage and Jennifer D. Gordon along with former Assistant U.S. Attorney Holly Wilson.
The Department of Justice encourages anyone with information about COVID-19 related fraud allegations to report it via its National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or through their online complaint form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Further details about this case can be accessed through PACER by searching Case No. 2:24-cr-192 on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.
