United States v. Alex Jennings

Case summary

At his July 2023 sentencing hearing, the government presented evidence that Alex Jennings, 40, of Springfield, Illinois, defrauded the Small Business Administration and a private lender into giving him two Paycheck Protection Program loans he did not qualify for. According to the same evidence, he spent the money on two cars for himself.¹

Jennings pleaded guilty in February 2023 to four counts of wire fraud. On July 20, 2023, Senior U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough sentenced him to 12 months and one day in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $46,666 in restitution. The judge found he had defrauded the federal government and the lender of more than $40,000.¹

At the hearing, Myerscough said that fraud by Jennings and others like him caused legitimate businesses to miss out on aid they needed during the pandemic. The U.S. Secret Service investigated, with assistance from the Springfield Police Department; Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Seberger prosecuted for the Central District of Illinois.¹

Notes

1. U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of Illinois, "Springfield, Illinois, Man Sentenced to 12 Months and One Day in Prison for Defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program" (original), July 21, 2023. ↩₁ ↩₂ ↩₃

Summary written from the documents on this page; every sentence is sourced.