United States’ Sentencing Memorandum, United States v. Ross Sylvester Elendu (D.N.D., September 16, 2026)
Summary
United States' sentencing memorandum filed September 16, 2026 as Document 122 in United States v. Ross Sylvester Elendu, Case No. 3:24-cr-142-PDW, in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota. It recommends 114 months in the Bureau of Prisons, a money judgment forfeiture of $1,425,244, restitution of $60,891.87 payable to the Small Business Administration, supervised release of up to five years and a $500 special assessment for each count of conviction. The memorandum states that a jury convicted the defendant on all six counts after a trial on December 8-12, 2025, and that sentencing is set for September 23, 2026. It calculates a total offense level of 25 and a range of 57-71 months, and argues for a sentence above that range.
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Cite this document
“United States’ Sentencing Memorandum, United States v. Ross Sylvester Elendu (D.N.D., September 16, 2026).”
Original at ecf.ndd.uscourts.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/sentencing-memorandum-usa-v-elendu-dkt-122-d-n-d-1be43da862/
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Case 3:24-cr-00142-PDW Document 122 Filed 09/16/26 Page 1 of 18
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NORTH DAKOTA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Case No. 3:24-cr-142-PDW
Plaintiff,
UNITED STATES’ SENTENCING
v. MEMORANDUM
ROSS SYLVESTER ELENDU,
Defendant.
The United States of America, by Nicholas W. Chase, United States Attorney for
the District of North Dakota, and Matthew D. Greenley, Assistant United States
Attorney, hereby recommends the following sentence in the above-captioned matter:
commitment to the Bureau of Prisons for 114 months; entry of a money judgment
forfeiture in the amount of $1,425,244; an Order for Restitution in the amount of
$60,891.87 payable to the Small Business Administration (“SBA”); supervised release
for a term of up to five years; and payment of a special assessment for each count of
conviction, equal to $500.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The case was tried by a jury on December 8-12, 2025. The jury convicted
Defendant on all six counts: five counts of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343
related to a fraudulently obtained Shuttered Venue Operator’s Grant (“SVOG”) and four
Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans, plus one count of fraud and false statements
in a tax return in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1). On June 8, 2026, the Court held a
Faretta hearing on Defendant’s Motion to Proceed Pro Se and to Appoint Standby
Case 3:24-cr-00142-PDW Document 122 Filed 09/16/26 Page 2 of 18
Counsel. After sternly warning the Defendant regarding the dangers of self-
representation and conducting a thorough inquiry into whether Defendant’s motion was
made voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently, the Court granted Defendant’s motion.
This matter is set for sentencing on September 23, 2026.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Public Law
116-136) enacted the Paycheck Protection Program in March 2020, which provided
emergency financial assistance to small businesses for job retention. The Economic Aid
to Hard-Hit Small Business, Nonprofits and Venues Act (“Economic Aid Act”) (Public
Law 116-260) created a second round of PPP loans in December 2020. Section 1102 of
the CARES Act limited the amount of each PPP loan to the average total monthly
payments by the applicant for payroll costs incurred in the 1-year period before the date
of the loan, multiplied by 2.5. Section 311 of the Economic Aid Act authorized “second
draw loans,”—a second round of PPP loans—using the same maximum loan amount as
the CARES Act. The Economic Aid Act also established Grants for Shuttered Venue
Operators in Section 324. The amount of the SVOG grants was limited to 45 percent of
the applicant’s gross earned revenue during 2019, prior to the start of the pandemic.
Defendant applied for, and received, a SVOG in the amount of $1,374,200.00 on
behalf of his talent representation business, Colossal Empire Promotions LLC
(“Colossal”), two PPP loans for Colossal each in the amount of $20,800, and two PPP
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loans for Defendant’s trucking business, Telaroice LLC (“Telaroice”), 1 in the amounts of
$4,724 and $4,720—none of which had to be repaid under the terms of the loans and the
grant. Central to this case, the amount of each loan and the grant was based on pre-
pandemic income, i.e. 2019 income, which Defendant falsified in order to obtain nearly
$1.5 million in government funds. Evidence at trial demonstrated that neither Colossal
nor Telaroice earned income in 2019, contrary to Defendant’s representations on five
separate COVID relief applications.
Underpinning each fraudulent loan and grant application was a false and
fraudulent Schedule C 2 that Defendant knowingly and willfully submitted as part of his
Amended 2019 Form 1040 tax return. The fraudulent tax return was filed with the IRS,
submitted to the SBA in support of the SVOG, and submitted to Aspire Bank in support
of four separate PPP loan applications.
Defendant originally filed his 2019 tax return on April 8, 2020, and he did not
report any business income, and did not even file Schedule C. Nearly a year later, on
March 11, 2021, Defendant signed an Amended 2019 Form 1040, including for the first
time Schedule C business income, which he filed with the IRS in April 2021.
Defendant’s Schedule C grossly overstated the income of Colossal and Telaroice. Bank
records for Colossal Empire Promotions 3 indicated that the business had no income or
1
Telaroice LLC was described on a PPP loan application as a trucking company. Tr.
489:8-12.
2
Used by sole proprietors and single-member LLCs to report business income.
www.irs.gov/ScheduleC.
3
Defendant stated in response to a subpoena that Colossal had only one bank account and
provided statements identical to those in Ex. 90.
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expenses in 2019, yet Schedule C reflected revenue of exactly $3.1 million. Exs. 90,
131. Likewise, bank records for Telaroice indicated the business had not been in
operation in 2019, (Ex. 95), but the Schedule C disclosed Telaroice earned revenue of
$22,678. Between Defendant’s original 2019 tax return filed in April 2020 and the
Amended 2019 tax return filed in April 2021, Defendant’s reported taxable income
increased from $0 to $173,849.
The same day that Defendant signed the Amended 2019 Form 1040, a banker at
Aspire Bank emailed Defendant blank PPP loan applications. In other words, the same
day that Defendant amended his 2019 tax return—which showed a substantial increase in
business income—Defendant received blank applications for PPP loans, which asked for
the 2019 gross revenue for each applicant business. The dollar amount of each loan was
derived directly on whatever revenue Defendant entered on that application.
SENTENCING RECOMMENDATION
The Court must fashion a sentence that is “sufficient, but not greater than
necessary, to comply with the purposes set forth in [18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)].”
(A) to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, and
to provide just punishment for the offense;
(B) to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct;
(C) to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant; and
(D) to provide the defendant with needed education or vocational training,
medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner.
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18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). In addition, the Court must consider the kinds of sentences
available; the United States Sentencing Guidelines and any pertinent policy statement;
the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities; and the need to provide restitution.
18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).
I. United States Sentencing Guidelines Calculation
Defendant’s crimes are economic offenses, and the guidelines are determined
under United States Sentencing Guidelines (USSG) Section 2B1.1. All of Defendant’s
convictions are grouped for the purposes of the USSG. As calculated below, the total
offense level under the USSG is 25.
• The base offense level for wire fraud is 7. USSG § 2B1.1(a)(1).
• The actual loss, and intended loss, $1,425,244, exceeds $550,000, increasing
the offense level by 14. USSG § 2B1.1(b)(1)(H). This calculation does not
change under the 2026 USSG Manual effective November 1, 2026. Defendant
received all of the above funds.
o The intended loss includes $1,374,200 (Ex. 82) from the SVOG
deposited into Colossal’s bank account at Gate City Bank; $41,600 in
PPP loans issued on behalf of Colossal (Exs. 79, 80); and $9,444 in PPP
loans issued on behalf of Telaroice. Exs. 78, 81.
o While $1,374,200 was fortunately recovered by the SBA at the same
time Defendant was trying to withdraw it, that does not mean that
Defendant did not “personally enrich” himself. In fact, Defendant
steadfastly maintains his right to the SVOG funds, as reflected in
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Defendant’s multiple demands to Gate City Bank employees to release
the SVOG funds. 4 Tr. 660:9-23; Ex. 98 (24 minutes to 27 minutes).
Defendant even retained an attorney to attempt to recover the SVOG
funds after the funds were frozen on suspicion of fraud.
• The offense involved sophisticated means, adding 2 levels.
USSG § 2B1.1(b)(10). Defendant executed his scheme by falsely amending
his actual tax return to add Schedule C business revenue and expenses that did
not exist. Then Defendant filed the willfully false tax return with the IRS and
provided copies in applications for four PPP loans submitted to Aspire Bank as
well as a copy to the SBA for the SVOG. Defendant further attempted to
conceal his crimes by falsifying contracts with a non-existent artist and
promoter, and provided those fraudulent documents in response to a grand jury
subpoena.
• The Defendant’s offenses involved conduct described in 18 U.S.C. § 1040
because President Trump declared a nationwide emergency under the Robert
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act on March 13, 2020,
related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which increases the offense level by 2.
USSG § 2B1.1(b)(12).
4
There is no audio recording of the meetings made by Gate City Bank. Tr. 667:21-
668:1. Former bank officials noted that it was Defendant who made an audio recording
of the meeting. 663:14-17.
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• Defendant derived more than $1,000,000 in gross receipts from Gate City
Bank, increasing the offense level by 2. USSG § 2B1.1(b)(17)(A).
• Defendant qualifies for the adjustment for zero-point offenders, reducing his
offense level by 2.
Defendant’s total offense level under the USSG is 25, and based on Defendant’s criminal
history category of I, the USSG range is 57-71 months.
Defendant does not qualify for acceptance of responsibility. USSG § 3E1.1.
Defendant maintains his innocence and refused to truthfully admit the conduct
comprising the offenses of conviction. Instead, Defendant put the government to its
burden of proof at trial. See USSG 3E1.1 app. note 1. Rather than voluntarily
terminating criminal conduct, Defendant persisted in efforts to obtain the SVOG funds
even after the funds were frozen on suspicion of fraud. Id. Not only has Defendant filed
a motion for a new trial, but Defendant has frivolously contested the record. See, e.g.,
Def Reply to Gov’t Response, Doc. 120 (Defendant attempts to argue that United States
violated Giglio because the government’s grand jury witness confused the name of an
actual artist with Defendant’s fictitious artist “Murphy.”). Lastly, Defendant’s entire
post-conviction litigation position involves repeated unsubstantiated claims that the
United States has violated Brady, Giglio, Jencks and Napue.
II. Section 3553(a) Factors
The United States Sentencing Guidelines do not adequately reflect Defendant’s
recalcitrance and resolve to defraud the United States taxpayer. Defendant’s frauds on
the United States involved at least four layers of deception and a level of persistence well
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beyond the typical white-collar defendant sentenced in the District of North Dakota. (A)
Defendant applied for PPP using false information; (B) when Defendant’s initial
applications were denied he willfully falsified his 2019 amended tax return to support a
second round of false PPP applications and a false SVOG application; (C) when
Defendant’s SVOG application was initially denied, he appealed using misleading
information to falsely portray that Colossal was actively engaged in representing live
artists; and (D) finally, Defendant fabricated contracts out of whole cloth in order to try
to cover up his fraudulent scheme. At each step in the multi-year scheme Defendant had
an opportunity to withdraw, but Defendant contumaciously continued, sometimes lying
to cover previous lies.
In summary, the Defendant’s actions described below demonstrate the necessity
for a sentence above the USSG range to reflect the seriousness of the Defendant’s
offenses; promote respect for the law, especially with regard to federal program dollars;
provide just punishment, and to provide specific deterrence to protect the public from
further crimes by Defendant.
A. Defendant Applied for COVID Relief Funds Using False Information
Defendant applied for PPP loans on behalf of Colossal and Telaroice from
ReadyCap Lending on April 8, 2020. Trial Tr. (“Tr.”) 710:23-24, 717:4-17; Exs. 109,
110. A loan officer from ReadyCap sent an email to Defendant on April 15, 2020,
stating “Just reviewed your tax return and the only income reported is from wages, don’t
see any business income.” Ex. 114. Defendant—who admitted he had never heard of a
profit and loss statement—did not understand what the loan officer was saying, and he
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tried to justify why his tax return did not show business income by explaining that he
reported all his income under his personal social security number. Tr. 758:7-14. This
was a misleading at best, but it was immaterial to the loan officer who replied “your
personal 2019 tax return reports wages and not a Schedule C for a business.” Tr. 761:7-
18. ReadyCap closed the Defendant’s first two PPP loan applications on April 24, 2020,
(Tr. 776:6-14) for the simple reason that without business income, the Defendant did not
qualify for the loans.
In truth Defendant’s businesses had no business income because they were not
actively engaged in 2019. Defendant’s income was generated from various oil field jobs
in western North Dakota and unemployment insurance—not by operating Colossal and
Telaroice. Tr. 719:14-726:15; Ex. 111. Defendant had not even opened a bank account
for Colossal Empire Promotions until June 22, 2020. Ex. 89. In other words, Defendant
did not have a bank account for Colossal until two months after he applied for a Colossal
PPP loan. Not only was the business required to have been in existence prior to
February 15, 2020, to qualify for PPP loans, and February 29, 2020, for the SVOG, but
Colossal Empire Promotions bank account had practically no income or expenses. Ex.
90. Colossal lacked any sign of bank account activity until after the PPP loan programs
launched.
Likewise, Defendant had not opened an account for Telaroice until March 25,
2021, which is more than a year beyond the last day a business could be established and
still qualify for a PPP loan. Ex. 94. Again, the Telaroice bank account existed only to
receive PPP loans and disburse them to Defendant. Ex. 95.
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B. Defendant Willfully Falsified His Tax Return to Further Fraudulent Schemes
Despite ReadyCap’s admirable diligence in denying Defendant’s non-qualifying
loan applications, Defendant re-applied for PPP loans on behalf of Colossal and
Telaroice at Aspire Bank in Fargo, North Dakota. Tr. 465:7-467:9; 487:1-20; Exs. 84,
85. Defendant applied for these loans on March 11, 2021. Id.
The same day Defendant applied for new PPP loans for Colossal and Telaroice,
Defendant signed an amended 2019 tax return showing business income for Colossal and
Telaroice that did not appear at all on his original tax return filed a year prior. Exs. 130,
131. Defendant did not file Schedule C with his original 2019 personal income tax
return, Exhibit 130, yet Exhibit 131 disclosed an added $3.1 million+ of revenue from
2019. Between the two tax returns Defendant’s taxable income rose from $0 to over
$173,849 for no other reason that he was applying for PPP loans that were based on
business income. Defendant either inexplicably failed to account for over $3.1 million of
revenue and $173,849 of taxable income in 2019, or he falsified changes to his tax return
to support the loans and grant to which he was otherwise not entitled.
C. Defendant Submitted False and Misleading Documents to Convince the SBA
to Grant His SVOG Appeal.
Defendant applied for an SVOG on behalf of Colossal in April 2021 (Tr. 292:16-
24), and was initially denied. Tr. 344:10-13. The SBA invited Defendant to provide
supplemental information on key eligibility questions, and he was denied a second time.
10
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Tr. 345:10-23. Specifically, the SBA was looking for contracts, emails confirming
verbal agreements, marketing materials, ledgers, income statements, box office reports or
other documentation that Colossal booked or represented artists at live venues. 346:14-
348:4. Colossal did not submit sufficient evidence to satisfy this request for technical
information.
After Colossal failed the second time to provide sufficient evidence that Colossal
qualified for the SVOG, Defendant was invited to appeal. Tr. 345:23-25. Exhibit 37
lists the documents that Defendant provided to the SBA to appeal the denial of his
SVOG application. Tr. 349:24-25. That exhibit includes three and only three artist
names: DJ Rash, Roddy Banks, and Shatta Wale. Ex. 37. Defendant included the artists
to show that he represented them. Two of the artists testified at trial. DJ Rash is
Defendant’s brother Roy Elendu (Tr. 624:18-20), who testified that he never paid
Colossal for services, and Colossal never booked DJ Rash. Tr. 630:3-12. Roddy Banks
is Defendant’s brother Rolland Elendu (Tr. 531:12-24), and he testified that Colossal
never paid any money to him and never booked him. Tr. 555:21-556:5.
Thus, two out of three artists that Colossal used as proof that it represented live-
performing artists were not actually generating any revenue at all for Colossal. The third
artist listed in Exhibit 37 is Shatta Wale, who is a Ghanian dancehall artist. In 2019
Shatta Wale collaborated with Beyoncé (who is an influential billionaire musician who
has sold more than 200 million albums) on her album The Lion King: The Gift, which
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debuted at No. 2 in July 2019 on the Billboard 200 chart. 5 Rolland Elendu testified that
he agreed Shatta Wale is a “big deal” in Ghana and “for sure” pretty well-known all over
Ghana, and known in the African community in the U.S.. Tr. 562:18-563:5. Despite this
fame, Defendant never even mentioned representing Shatta Wale. Tr. 563:6-9. Of
course, it makes no logical sense that an artist who was collaborating with one of
America’s biggest R&B artists would seek out Defendant’s business, in Fargo, North
Dakota, when Defendant’s business did not have a business, a bank account, and
operated out of the back of an ice rink in an industrial park.
A witness from the SBA testified at trial that the individuals reviewing SVOG
applications could not independently verify all the information in the applications. The
SBA had to rely in part on the attestation of the applicants that the representations made
were true and correct in order to disburse emergency funds to venues affected by COVID
era restrictions. Tr. 286:13-287:10. Defendant now argues that because he successfully
deceived the SBA when he falsely attested to the representations in his SVOG
application and won his appeal, that is proof that he did not defraud the government.
D. Defendant Engineered a Coverup that Belied His Fraud.
Following Defendant’s successful appeal, SBA initiated an ACH payment
scheduled for November 1, 2021, to Defendant’s Colossal bank account at Gate City
Bank. Ex. 82. The bank became immediately concerned about fraud because the very
5
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shatta_Wale (last accessed September 16, 2026);
https://web.archive.org/web/20191022073035/https://www.billboard.com/articles/column
s/chart-beat/8524153/ed-sheeran-no-6-collaborations-billboard-200-albums-chart-no-1-
second-week (last accessed September 16, 2026).
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large payment was deposited into an otherwise inactive business account, and Defendant
was attempting to wire the funds out. Tr. 654:1-9. The fraud prevention officer froze the
funds in the account and contacted a special agent with the SBA Office of Inspector
General (“SBA OIG”). On November 2, 2021, the SBA OIG special agent requested
Gate City Bank freeze the Colossal payment on suspicion of fraud. Tr. 658:2-16.
On November 8, 2021, SBA-OIG served a subpoena on Colossal that requested in
part “Receipts, deposits, or other records supporting the entry on line 1 of 2019 Schedule
C to Ross Sylvester Elendu’s 2019 form 1040-X Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax
Return indicating gross receipts of $3,100,000.” In response, Colossal, through
Defendant, provided a pair of contracts in exactly the amount of $3,100,000. Ex. 126.
Defendant also provided a pair of invoices. One invoice from Colossal Empire
Promotions to an unidentified promoter was in the amount of $3,100,000. Ex. 126. A
second invoice appeared to be a bill from an artist to Colossal Empire Promotions LLC
in the amount of $3,000,000. Id. Notably, whether the contracts and invoices were
fabricated or not, by their own terms only $120,000 of the $3,100,000 was due to be paid
to Defendant in 2019.
Defendant stated in the response to the subpoena to Colossal Empire Promotions
that the $3,100,000 was in “accounts receivable,” meaning he never received the money
he claimed as revenue on his SVOG application. However, regardless of whether
Defendant employed cash accounting or accrual accounting, the fact is that Colossal
could not have earned more than $120,000 in 2019 under the most generous and
favorable interpretation of the facts. But Colossal was not paid any money in 2019.
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Moreover, the evidence at trial demonstrates that these contracts and invoices were
simply a fraudulent attempt by the Defendant to paper over a fraud scheme for which the
jury unanimously convicted him.
Defendant’s behavior is simply egregious. He schemed to obtain nearly
$1,500,000 million for doing nothing. It was fortuitous for Defendant that he had two
inactive companies in April 2020 that he could use to apply for “free money” during a
multi-year national emergency. The PPP loan program and the SVOG program were
targeted to protect employment and businesses in the United States during a pandemic
that was eliminating jobs and shuttering the live entertainment business. Defendant
exploited the goodwill of the United States, and in all the documents he uploaded,
emailed, and mailed, the United States could not find one legitimate dollar deposited
from the business of Telaroice or Colossal.
The Defendant was not simply scheming and dishonest: he claims he is entitled to
the proceeds of his scheme. The Defendant is not claiming that he made an error or a
mistake. He brazenly maintains that he is innocent and deserves the proceeds of his
scheme. Defendant’s ambition to obtain fraud proceeds in this case was not deterred by
regulatory rules, denials by loan officers, repeated denials by the SBA, limitations of his
tax filings, bank fraud prevention, a federal criminal investigation, or a jury verdict. For
these reasons the United States seeks an upward variance under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).
III. Forfeiture
The United States seeks a personal money judgment forfeiture for the entire
amount of fraud proceeds in this case that were received by Defendant regardless of
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whether the funds were subsequently recovered through investigative efforts. Here that
amount is $1,425,244. The United States seeks $1,374,200 for the fraud related to the
SVOG, $41,600 in loan disbursements from the two Colossal PPP loans, $9,444 in loan
disbursements from the two Telaroice PPP loans.
Where the United States seeks a personal money judgment under Federal Rule of
Criminal Procedure 32.2, the Court must determine the amount of money that the
defendant will be ordered to pay. Rule 32.2(b)(1)(A). The United States may seek
forfeiture of any property, real or personal, which constitutes or is derived from proceeds
traceable to a violation of any offense constituting specified unlawful activity, as defined
in 18 U.S.C. § 1956(c). 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(C). United States v. Adetiloye, 716 F.3d
1030, 1041 (8th Cir. 2013). Wire fraud is a specified unlawful activity. 18
U.S.C. § 1956(c)(7)(A). Proceeds include property of any kind obtained directly or
indirectly as the result of the commission of the offense giving rise to forfeiture.
Adetiloye, 716 F.3d at 1041. Forfeiture is gain based, and restitution is loss based. Id.
It is immaterial that Gate City Bank froze and returned $1,374,200. Tr. 652:22-
653:3. $1,374,200 represents proceeds obtained as the result of wire fraud, that were
deposited into Defendant’s account, giving him an opportunity to attempt to wire the
proceeds out. See United States v. Newman, 659 F.3d 1235, 1243 (9th Cir. 2011) (“We
reject Newman’s arguments that he is entitled to a reduction in criminal forfeiture.
Because he was caught soon after the second robbery, Newman never spent any of the
stolen money. But, under any definition of “proceeds,” and particularly the broad
definition applicable here, the “proceeds” of his bank robbery clearly equal the amount
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that he stole.”). In Newman, there was no dispute that the defendant stole $5,102, and the
Ninth Circuit concluded that the district court erred in failing to enter an order of criminal
forfeiture in that amount.
Here, Defendant executed an elaborate scheme to obtain $1,425,244. He
fabricated documents, made multiple applications to multiple entities and multiple banks.
Defendant re-submitted information and appealed to obtain the SVOG. His appeal was
granted, and the entire amount of proceeds was deposited into his account. All of it is
proceeds.
IV. Restitution
The United States seeks restitution to the SBA for all four issued and forgiven
loans in an aggregate amount of $60,891.87. That sum represents $41,600 in loan
disbursements from the two Colossal PPP loans, $9,444 in loan disbursements from the
two Telaroice PPP loans, plus interest and processing fees paid by SBA to Aspire Bank
for the four PPP loans, equal to $9,847.87. Exs. 78-81.
CONCLUSION
Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and for the reasons set forth herein, the United
States recommends the Defendant be committed to the Bureau of Prisons for a term of
114 months, or two times the low end of the USSG range. It is a term sufficient but not
greater than necessary to achieve the purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). In addition, the
United States requests a money judgment forfeiture in the amount of $1,425,244, entry of
an Order of Restitution in the amount of $60,891.87 payable to the SBA, payment of a
special assessment in the amount of $500, and supervised release for up to five years.
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Dated: September 16, 2026
NICHOLAS W. CHASE
United States Attorney
By: ____________________________
/s/ Matthew D. Greenley
MATTHEW D. GREENLEY
Assistant United States Attorney
MN Bar ID 034252X
655 First Avenue North, Suite 250
Fargo, ND 58102-4932
(701) 297-7400
matthew.greenley@usdoj.gov
Attorney for United States
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on September 16, 2026, the above-named document was filed
electronically with the Clerk of Court through ECF, and that ECF will send a Notice of
Electronic Filing (NEF) to the following:
Stormy Vickers
I further certify that a copy of the foregoing documents will be mailed by first
class mail, postage paid, to the following non-ECF participant(s):
Ross Sylvester Elendu
Dated: September 16, 2026
/s/ Matthew D. Greenley
Matthew D. Greenley
Office of the United States Attorney
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