Atlantic County Resident Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Laundering Proceeds

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey, dated April 30, 2024, announcing that U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams sentenced Jeremy Earley on April 29, 2024 to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Earley pleaded guilty on June 1, 2023 to an information charging one count of engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property. The release states that two companies owned by Earley received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling more than $1.3 million based on fraudulent applications submitted by another individual, which listed monthly payrolls of $145,000 and $382,400. It states that Earley wrote checks totaling nearly $400,000 to that individual and wired $85,000 after being advised by federal agents not to spend the money. Rhonda Thomas was sentenced to five years in prison.

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PRESS RELEASE



Atlantic County Resident Sentenced
to 30 Months in Prison for
Laundering Proceeds of COVID-19
Small Business Relief Program
Fraud
Tuesday, April 30, 2024


For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey

CAMDEN, N.J. – An Atlantic County, New Jersey, man was sentenced to 30 months in
prison for laundering the proceeds of fraudulently obtained Paycheck Protection
Program loans, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

Jeremy Earley, 42, of Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, and Lilburn, Georgia, pleaded
guilty on June 1, 2023, before U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams to an information
charging him with one count of engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived
property. Judge Williams imposed the sentence on April 29, 2024, in Camden federal
court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

In 2020 and 2021, two companies owned by Earley received loans totaling more than
$1.3 million from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a federal program that
provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other
expenses. The loans were approved based on fraudulent applications submitted by
another individual stating that the companies had dozens of employees and monthly
payrolls of $145,000 and $382,400, respectively. The applications also contained forged
tax forms. In fact, Earley’s businesses had no employees other than himself and paid
minimal to no wages. After receiving the PPP loan proceeds, Earley wrote checks
totaling nearly $400,000 to the individual who submitted the loan applications to
compensate her for her role in submitting the fraudulent loan applications. Earley also
wired $85,000 of the proceeds out of a bank account he controlled after being advised
by federal agents not to spend the money because it constituted proceeds of bank
fraud.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Williams sentenced Earley to three years of
supervised release.

Rhonda Thomas previously pleaded guilty to bank fraud conspiracy and money
laundering and was sentenced to five years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation – Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Patricia Tarasca,
Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Regional Office; special agents of the Social Security
Administration, Office of the Inspector General, Boston-New York Field Division, under
the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Bradley Parker; special agents of the
FBI’s South Jersey Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge
Wayne A. Jacobs in Philadelphia; and special agents of the U.S. Department of Labor,
Office of the Inspector General, New York Region, under the direction of Special Agent
in Charge Jonathan Mellone, with the investigation leading to the sentencing.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel A. Friedman and
Attorney-In-Charge Jason M. Richardson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division
in Camden.

Updated April 30, 2024

Topic
CORONAVIRUS


Component
USAO - New Jersey


Press Release Number: 24-158


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