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David Staveley

Defendant

PPP
Type
Person
Role
Defendant
Programs
PPP
Updated

The profile

Pleaded guilty on May 17, 2021 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and failure to appear (D.R.I. 1:20-cr-00074-MSM) over four PPP applications seeking $543,959; sentenced October 7, 2021 to 56 months. The government described him as the first person in the country charged with PPP fraud (DOJ release).

Individuals whose conduct was challenged or called into question during or after the pandemic. See sources: Criminal complaint, May 4, 2020 Plea agreement, May 6, 2021

In the archive

Identity and role

David Adler Staveley, a/k/a Kurt David Sanborn, a/k/a David Sanborn, was 54 at sentencing (case file). The DOJ release described him as the first person in the country charged with fraudulently seeking forgivable CARES Act business loans.

The court file shows he applied for PPP money under multiple names, used false identities and stolen license plates while a fugitive, and, per the sentencing record, filed his first fraudulent application only about a week after the CARES Act passed.

The case / pandemic-relief role

According to the Department of Justice, Staveley conspired with David Andrew Butziger of Warwick, Rhode Island to file four fraudulent PPP loan applications with a Rhode Island bank, falsely claiming they owned businesses with large monthly payrolls. Staveley admitted that on April 6, 2020 he and Butziger filed applications including $144,050 for the Remington House Inn and one for the Top of the Bay restaurant in Warwick. These were restaurants and a wireless business where the claimed facts did not exist: businesses that were not his, were closed, or had no employees. Together the applications sought more than $543,000. No loan proceeds were received; the case was an attempt-and-conspiracy prosecution.

After the case was filed in May 2020, Staveley removed his electronic monitoring device, staged a suicide and disappeared, triggering a nationwide search by the U.S. Marshals Service. He was arrested in Georgia; the failure-to-appear offense is dated as ending July 23, 2020.

  • Charged: first by federal complaint in the District of Rhode Island in May 2020, then by indictment: United States v. Staveley, No. 1:20-cr-00074-MSM (D.R.I.). His co-defendant Butziger was prosecuted separately (No. 1:20-cr-00072).
  • Pleaded: guilty on May 17, 2021 to Count 1, conspiracy to commit bank fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1349), and Count 7, failure to appear in court as required (18 U.S.C. § 3146(a)(1)). Counts 2 through 6 were dismissed on the government's motion.
  • Sentenced: October 7, 2021 (judgment signed October 12, 2021) by U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy: 56 months in prison (44 months on the conspiracy count and 12 months on the failure-to-appear count, served consecutively), followed by 3 years of supervised release. No restitution was ordered; no loan money had been disbursed.

Butziger, who admitted the same $543,959 scheme, was sentenced on February 9, 2022 to three years of supervised release, the first six months in home confinement with electronic monitoring.

Where they are now

Bureau of Prisons records (register number 04230-049; inmate locator cited; we do not have a copy) show Staveley released from federal custody on October 2, 2023.

Court records

Sources

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