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ProfilePerson

Gary Wheeler

Defendant

PPP
Type
Person
Role
Defendant
Programs
PPP
Updated

The profile

A Mount Vernon, New York businessman who received $412,375 in PPP loans for three companies through the Glenroy Walker and Howard Levy scheme. He paid them $64,256 in kickbacks and was sentenced in July 2024 to 16 months in prison.

Identity and role

Gary Wheeler, 46 when charged, of Mount Vernon, New York, was one of six people arrested on June 6, 2023, when a criminal complaint was unsealed in United States v. Walker, No. 7:23-cr-00662 (S.D.N.Y.). On January 5, 2024, he was charged in a one-count superseding information with conspiracy to commit wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 371) and pleaded guilty the same day.

The scheme and pandemic-relief role

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Glenroy Walker and Howard Levy submitted more than 100 fraudulent PPP applications between July 2020 and February 2022, and Wheeler took part by applying for his own purported businesses, recruiting other applicants and paying kickbacks. Westfair Communications, reporting from the court record, said he received $412,375 for Garden Bar & Grill, Matrix Data Group and Peak Business Group, tried to get nearly $150,000 more for 50 High Holding Corp., and paid Levy and Walker $64,256 in kickbacks.

In his plea he agreed to a money judgment of $348,118.63, the proceeds he personally obtained, and admitted that those proceeds could not be located.

  • Charged: criminal complaint unsealed June 6, 2023; superseding information (S1), January 5, 2024.
  • Pleaded guilty: January 5, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel, under a plea agreement; consent forfeiture order for $348,118.63 entered the same day.
  • Sentenced: July 23, 2024, to 16 months in prison and $412,375 in restitution to the SBA, with a surrender date of October 23, 2024, according to Westfair. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence within the guideline range of 24 to 30 months, citing seven prior convictions; his lawyers asked for time served.

Where they are now (2025–2026)

We found no public record of him after his surrender date. His written judgment, which would confirm the terms Westfair reported, is not among the docket's publicly available documents.

Sources

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