Houma Man Indicted for Mail Fraud and Making False Statements to Federal Agents (Press Release)

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, dated Monday, March 13, 2023, announcing that Dondre Morgan, age 31, of Houma was indicted on March 10, 2023 on two counts of Mail Fraud and one count of Making False Statements to Federal Agents. According to the indictment, Morgan, Sharnae Every and others defrauded the SBA and financial institutions of approximately $1,142,041.00 through approximately 110 fraudulent PPP loan applications. The release states that Every recruited friends and family members via Facebook, charged $45.00 to $120.00 to prepare applications and $3,500.00 once loans were funded. Every pled guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud on March 2, 2023, with sentencing scheduled for June 8, 2023.

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PRESS RELEASE


Houma Man Indicted for Mail Fraud and
Making False Statements to Federal Agents
Monday, March 13, 2023


For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Louisiana
shane.jones@usdoj.gov


NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced
today that DONDRE MORGAN, (“MORGAN”), age 31, of Houma, LA, was indicted on
March 10, 2023 on two (2) counts of Mail Fraud in violation of Title 18, United States
Code, Section 1341 and one (1) count of Making False Statements to Federal Agents in
violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(2).

According to the indictment, MORGAN, Sharnae Every, MORGAN’S girlfriend, and
others defrauded the SBA and other designated financial institutions of approximately
$1,142,041.00 through the submission of approximately 110 fraudulent PPP loan
applications. As part of the scheme to defraud , Every recruited friends and family
members primarily via Facebook to send Every their personal and bank information in
exchange for "free money." MORGAN also assisted in recruiting various friends and
family members by speaking with them in person or texting them, telling them to
contact Every.

Every charged the individuals she recruited anywhere from $45.00 to $120.00 to prepare
and submit the fraudulent PPP application. Every primarily used Cash App. to receive the
initial payments. Every then charged $3,500.00 once the loans were funded and received
these funds into her Current account, her Cash App account, or into MORGAN’s Current
account.

On September 9, 2022, Every was indicted by a federal grand jury for Conspiracy to
Commit Mail Fraud and Mail Fraud. On March 2, 2023, Every pled guilty to Conspiracy to
Commit Mail Fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 8, 2023 by U.S. District
Judge Carl J. Barbier.

If convicted, MORGAN faces a maximum penalty of twenty (20) years per count for
Counts 1 and 2 and five (5) years for Count 3, followed by a term of supervised release
for up to three (3) years, a fine up to $250,000.00 per count, or twice the gross gain to
the defendant, or twice the gross loss to any victim, and a $100.00 mandatory special
assessment fee per count.

U.S. Attorney Evans reiterated that the indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt
of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement
Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with
agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-
related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most
culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with
administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting
and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and
techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing
information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information
on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please
visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. The Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of
the Inspector General, is an active member of the PRAC Fraud Task Force.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can
report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud
(NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form
at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The United States Attorney’s Office would also like to acknowledge the assistance of the
Department of Veteran Affairs, Office of the Inspector General; United States
Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General; United States Department of
Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations; and the United States Secret
Service’s Cyber Fraud Task Force, consisting of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office,
Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, Thibodeaux Police Department, and the Louisiana
Bureau of Investigation with this matter. The prosecution of this case is being handled
by Assistant United States Attorney Brian M. Klebba, Chief of the Financial Crimes Unit;
Assistant United States Attorney Edward Rivera, COVID-19 Fraud Coordinator; and
Assistant United States Attorney Mary Katherine Kaufman of the Civil Division.
Contact
Shane M. Jones

Public Information Officer

United States Attorney's Office
United States Department of Justice
Updated March 13, 2023


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