Nashville Man Sentenced to Four Years for COVID Fraud

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina dated Thursday, January 16, 2025, announcing that Joe Lewis Jefferson, age 50, of Nashville, was sentenced to 48 months in prison and three years of supervised release over emergency rental assistance for households affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It states that on August 12, 2024, he pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of failure to file a tax return, and that he was ordered to pay $323,824 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Treasury. According to the release, he recruited others to pose as landlords for properties in Eastern North Carolina and submitted NC HOPE applications in their names, with at least 44 fraudulent applications submitted.

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Full text

Press Release

Nashville Man Sentenced to Four Years for COVID Fraud

Thursday, January 16, 2025

For Immediate Release

U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of North Carolina

Katie Holcomb Vollmer, Public Affairs Officer

USANCE.PublicInfoOfficer@usdoj.gov

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Nashville man was sentenced to 48 months in prison, and three years of supervised release, for orchestrating a scheme to fraudulently obtain emergency rental assistance designated for households affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. On August 12, 2024, Joe Lewis Jefferson, age 50, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of failure to file a tax return. As part of the judgment, Jefferson was also ordered to pay $323,824 in criminal restitution to the U.S. Department of Treasury.

According to information presented in court, Jefferson recruited others to falsely pose as landlords for properties located in Eastern North Carolina. In the names of these nominee landlords, Jefferson prepared and submitted fraudulent North Carolina Housing Opportunities and Prevention of Evictions (NC HOPE) loan applications for emergency rental assistance. When the applications were approved, NC HOPE mailed checks to addresses controlled by Jefferson. Jefferson traveled with the nominee landlords to area banks to negotiate the checks and split the proceeds. Jefferson and his co-conspirators were responsible for the submission of at least 44 fraudulent applications for rental assistance, resulting in the disbursement of approximately $279,000.

The NC HOPE Program administered federal COVID-19 relief funds and provided emergency rental assistance to North Carolina renters who faced eviction and homelessness during the pandemic. The program allowed renters to submit an online application to apply for rental assistance. If approved, the program paid the tenant’s rent, in checks sent directly to the landlord, for up to 15 months of overdue or future rent payments

Michael F. Easley, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III. The investigation was conducted by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Toby Lathan prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 7:22-CR-00068-D.

Updated January 17, 2025

Topic

Disaster Fraud

Component

USAO - North Carolina, Eastern

Press Release Number: 25-011

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