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ProfilePerson

Kenneth Gaughan

Defendant

Type
Person
Role
Defendant
Updated

The profile

A Washington, D.C. man who defrauded the Archdiocese of Washington and small-business pandemic relief programs of more than $2.5 million. He abused his position as an Archdiocese official and used entities purporting to work with service and emotional-support animals. He was sentenced to 78 months, later reduced to 70 on a zero-point-offender provision.

Identity and role

Kenneth Gaughan, of the District of Columbia, held an official position at the Archdiocese of Washington and operated multiple entities purporting to work with service and emotional-support animals, prosecuted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Biography / career arc

Gaughan worked in an official capacity at the Archdiocese of Washington; court records describe a subsequent rehabilitation record including more than 20 educational classes, a 6,000-plus-hour electrician apprenticeship, and music-ministry work, along with timely restitution payments.

The scheme and pandemic-relief role

According to the Department of Justice, Gaughan defrauded small-business pandemic relief programs — including PPP and EIDL — of more than $2 million using multiple entities purporting to work with service and emotional-support animals, and separately defrauded the Archdiocese of Washington in a related scheme, for combined losses exceeding $2.5 million.

  • Charged: August 11, 2020, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Case No. 20-cr-00128), on wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering.
  • Pleaded guilty: March 2022, to two counts of wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343) and one count of money laundering (18 U.S.C. § 1957) (Case No. 21-cr-00390).
  • Sentenced: September 2022 — 78 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release.
  • Sentence reduced: August 12, 2025, by Judge Tanya Chutkan (D.D.C.), to 70 months, under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) and the zero-point-offender provision of U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Amendment 821.

Where they are now (2025–2026)

His sentence was reduced to 70 months on August 12, 2025.

Sources

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