Presentence Report Objections of Defendant, Aleta Necole Thomas

Summary

Keith A. Ward, attorney for Aleta Thomas, filed the Presentence Report Objections of Defendant, Aleta Necole Thomas, on May 18, 2022 as Document 98 in United States of America v. Aleta Necole Thomas, Case No. 21-CR-239-GKF, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. Exhibit No. 1 is a May 4, 2022 letter from Ward to Paul Sims of the United States Probation Office stating the objections. The letter states that Ms. Thomas accepts responsibility for the loan applications Ms. Thomas personally submitted but did not instruct anybody to submit a fraudulent PPP loan application. It disputes the PSR's conclusion that Ms. Thomas obstructed justice under U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1, the loss of $774,753.50 attributed to Ms. Thomas and the finding of an aggravating role. The letter argues that the total offense level should be 18 rather than 24.

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Case 4:21-cr-00239-GKF Document 98 Filed in USDC ND/OK on 05/18/22 Page1of4

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, )

Plaintiff,
vs. ) Case No. 21-CR-239-GKF
ALETA NECOLE THOMAS,

Defendant. )

PRESENTENCE REPORT OBJECTIONS OF
DEFENDANT, ALETA NECOLE THOMAS

The defendant, Aleta Necole Thomas (“Ms. Thomas”), hereby submits her

objections to the Presentence Report in this matter. See Exhibit No. 1.

Respectfully submitted,

S/ Keith A. Ward
Keith A. Ward, PLLC
1874 S. Boulder
Tulsa, OK 74119
(918) 764-9011 Voice

keith@keithwardlaw.com

Attorney for Aleta Thomas

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that I served all registrants in the above-captioned case by submitting this
document to the Clerk of the Court using the ECF System for filing and transmittal.

S/_ Keith A. Ward
Case 4:21-cr-00239-GKF Document 98 Filed in USDC ND/OK on 05/18/22 Page 2 of 4

Exhibit No. 1
Case 4:21-cr-00239-GKF Document 98 Filed in USDC ND/OK on 05/18/22 Page 3 of 4

Law Offices of

WARD & ASSOCIATES

THE RIVERPARK BUILDING

1874 S, BOULDER AVENUE From th :
TULSA, OKLAHOMA 74119 m the desk: of
Telephone: (918) 764-9011 Keith A. Ward
Facsimile: (918) 764-9384 keith@keithwardlaw.com

www.keithwardlaw.com

May 4, 2022
VIA EMAIL ONLY

Mr. Paul Sims
United States Probation Office
Tulsa, OK 74103

Re: USA v. Aleta Thomas
Dear Mr. Sims:

This letter contains Ms. Thomas’s objections to the PSR which are stated below.

Page 9,414. The PSR states that Ms. Thomas “instructed (others) to submit
approximately thirty-three fraudulent PPP loan applications...” Ms. Thomas accepts
responsibility for the loan applications she personally submitted but did not instruct
anybody to submit a fraudulent PPP loan application. Every other person who submitted
a loan application did so as their own voluntary choice on their own smart phones with
their own personal information. Ms. Thomas did not assist them in the preparation of
their applications.

The PSR also states that the money was deposited into an account controlled by
Thomas. While that fact is true, it gives a false impression that Ms. Thomas influenced
the other persons to deposit money in her account. The other persons had the money
deposited into Ms. Thomas’s account because the lender required the money to be sent to
a bank account. Those persons did not have a bank account and, for that reason, they
asked Ms. Thomas for permission to have the money deposited directly into her account.
She permitted the others to have the money deposited into her account and she received
no consideration or money for allowing them to do it.

Pages 9-10, 16. The PSR concludes that Ms. Thomas obstructed justice by (a)
stating that she was aided in the loan process by Joniayah Harrison. The fact that the
government could not locate Ms. Harrison is not proof that she doesn’t exist. It simply
means that the government could not locate her. Ms. Thomas did not verify her identity.
“Joniayah Harrison” is the name that person represented herself to be but it is entirely
possible that she was using an alias to avoid detection for her role. Her identity, her
existence and her role in Ms. Thomas’s offense has been independently and affirmatively
Case 4:21-cr-00239-GKF Document 98 Filed in USDC ND/OK on 05/18/22 Page 4 of 4

confirmed by Pepper Jones. In spite of the fact that Ms. Jones confirmed the existence of
Joniayah Harrison, Ms. Jones did not receive an obstruction adjustment in her PSR.

The application notes to U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 sets forth the examples of conduct that
qualify as obstruction. None of them apply in this instance. The closest example is set
forth in § 4(G) which states: “providing a materially false statement to a law enforcement
officer that significantly obstructed or impeded the official investigation or prosecution of
the instant offense.” The PSR fails to provide any information as to how any statements
made by Ms. Thomas “significantly obstructed or impeded the ... investigation.” Without
particulars, it cannot be assumed that any statements she made “significantly obstructed
or impeded the investigation.” Finally, it should be noted that the grand jury heard the
testimony and did not return a true bill for perjury which it would have done if the grand
jury believed that she committed perjury by a mere preponderance of the evidence.

Page 10, 421. The PSR attributes a loss of $774,753.50 to Ms. Thomas. This amount
includes the proceeds of individual PPP loans made to various other persons for which Ms.
Thomas is not responsible. Those individuals have provided evidence to the government that
they, not Ms. Thomas, are responsible for those loan applications. I have requested those
statements from the government but have not yet received them. Those amounts should be
removed from the loss calculation.

Page 10, 23. This paragraph concludes that Ms. Thomas held an aggravating role
without naming a single person that Ms. Thomas allegedly organized or led in a criminal activity.
Ms. Thomas single-handedly made her loan applications. No other persons were organized or
managed by Ms. Thomas in her loan applications. The fact that other persons committed similar
conduct by filing their own individual PPP loan applications is not evidence that Ms. Thomas
organized or managed them. Ms. Thomas had no aggravating role.

Page 11,929. Based on the foregoing objections the total offense level should be
18 rather than 24.

Thank you for revising the PSR in accordance with the afore-mentioned
objections. Feel free to contact me if you need to do so.

Sincerely,

Keith A. Ward
FOR THE FIRM

KAW
c: Ms. Kristin Harrington


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