Former Louisiana Woman Sentenced For Preparing More Than 110 Fraudulent PPP Loans Totaling Over $1.1 Million Dollars

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana dated Thursday, November 20, 2025, posted late because of the government shutdown. It announces that Sharnae Every, 30, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced on October 9, 2025 by United States District Judge Carl J. Barbier to 41 months imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment for conspiracy to commit mail fraud under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. The case began as a referral from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee. Investigators found at least 110 PPP sole proprietor loan applications around Thibodeaux, Louisiana with the same invoices and Schedule C forms. Every created a fictitious business, Natural Hair Afro, LLC, and recruited applicants on Facebook; the loans totaled over $1.1 million.

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PRESS RELEASE


Former Louisiana Woman Sentenced For
Preparing More Than 110 Fraudulent PPP
Loans Totaling Over $1.1 Million Dollars
Thursday, November 20, 2025

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

Editor’s Note: This matter occurred on date indicated but not published at that
time due to government shutdown. Press release posted and made available
following the return to normal operations.
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – Acting United States Attorney Michael M. Simpson
announced today that SHARNAE EVERY (“EVERY”), age 30, of Houston, Texas, was
sentenced on October 9, 2025, for Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud, in violation of Title
18, United States Code, Section 1349.

The case against EVERY began as a referral from the COVID-19 Pandemic Response
Accountability Committee (“PRAC”) regarding possible fraudulent Paycheck Protection
Program (“PPP”) loans. Investigators determined there were at least 110 PPP sole
proprietor loan applications in and around the Thibodeaux, Louisiana area that all
contained the same invoices and federal tax forms (“Schedule C”) with the same
business name and amounts.

According to court documents, EVERY created a fictitious business called “Natural Hair
Afro, LLC, Houma, LA 70360” and used this fictitious business name on nearly all of the
fraudulent PPP loan applications. EVERY advertised under various aliases on Facebook
to recruit individuals to obtain money from the PPP program. EVERY prepared and
submitted false and fraudulent PPP sole proprietor loan applications via various online
portals including, but not limited, to Blueacorn. EVERY created all of the false and
fraudulent invoices, bank statements, and Schedule Cs. EVERY falsely certified that the
applications and the information provided in the supporting documents were true and
accurate when she electronically submitted the fraudulent PPP loan applications.
EVERY charged the individuals that she recruited to prepare and submit the fraudulent
PPP application anywhere from $45.00 to $120.00. EVERY primarily used Cash App to
receive the initial payments. EVERY then charged approximately $3,500.00 once the
loans were funded. EVERY received these funds into her Current account, her Cash App
account, or into her boyfriend’s Current account.

United States District Judge Carl J. Barbier sentenced EVERY to 41 months
imprisonment, followed by 3 years supervised release and payment of a $100
mandatory special assessment fee.

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 Veterans Administration, Office of the
Inspector General, is an active member of the PRAC Fraud Task Force.

For more information on the Department of Justice’s response to the pandemic, please
visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. 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.

This case was investigated by an agent assigned to the Pandemic Response
Accountability Committee (PRAC) Fraud Task Force. The PRAC was established to serve
the American public by promoting transparency and facilitating coordinated oversight
of the federal government’s COVID-19 pandemic response. The PRAC’s 21 member
Inspectors General identify major risks that cross program and agency boundaries to
detect fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in the more than $5 trillion in COVID-
19 spending. The PRAC Fraud Task Force brings together agents from 15 Inspectors
General to investigate fraud involving a variety of programs, including the Paycheck
Protection Program.
The United States Attorney’s Office would also like to acknowledge the assistance of the
Veterans Administration, 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, and Assistant United States
Attorney Edward Rivera, COVID-19 Fraud Coordinator.

                                          * * *

Contact
Shane M. Jones

Public Information Officer

United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana

United States Department of Justice

Updated November 20, 2025


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