United States v. Cindi Ellis Denton — U.S. District Court, S.D. Fla.

Case summary

Cindi Ellis Denton was charged by criminal complaint on March 16, 2021 and by information on June 21, 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, No. 0:21-cr-60171-RS, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 371. The complaint states that she participated in a conspiracy and scheme to obtain forgivable loans by fraud through the Paycheck Protection Program and other government programs, and that she obtained a PPP loan for her company Emerald Jade Solutions, Inc. The court accepted her guilty plea on July 22, 2021. Sentence was imposed October 8, 2021 and an amended judgment entered October 11, 2021: six months' imprisonment on count 1, three years of supervised release, a $100 assessment and restitution of $377,883.91.

Case at a glance

What did the complaint allege?

That between the dates charged Denton participated in a conspiracy and scheme to obtain millions of dollars in forgivable loans by fraud through the Paycheck Protection Program and other government programs, and obtained a fraudulent PPP loan for her own company, Emerald Jade Solutions, Inc., with a cooperating person providing falsified documents and submitting the application in exchange for a kickback from the loan proceeds.

What was the forfeiture money judgment?

The plea agreement recorded agreement to a forfeiture money judgment of $491,310.00. The United States then confirmed that the victim financial institution had recovered $113,507.88, and in its motion sought a forfeiture money judgment of $377,802.12. A preliminary order of forfeiture was entered October 9, 2021.

Who shares the restitution obligation?

The judgment records restitution of $377,883.91 as joint and several with James Stote, N.D. Ohio case 20-mj-04215-JDG, and Ross Charno, N.D. Ohio case 20-mj-04216-JDG.

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