Pandemic Darlings The pandemic economy, in original documents
Home Sources Local copies Archived copy

The Archive · Sources · Archived copy

Archived copy: Blueacorn co-founder sentenced to 10 years in prison in federal wire fraud case

This is an archived copy of a page from www.abc15.com, kept for the record so that a citation on this site still has its source if the page changes or disappears. Pandemic Darlings did not write it.

Original address: https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/blueacorn-co-founder-nathan-reis-sentenced-to-10-years-in-prison-in-federal-wire-fraud-case. Copy made 18 September 2026.

Forms, sign-in fields, buttons, scripts, images and embedded frames from the original are not reproduced here. Links that went through a redirect or a sign-in page are shown as plain text. All local copies of cited sources.

Close ×

Actions

Blueacorn co-founder Nathan Reis sentenced to 10 years in prison in federal wire fraud case

His wife, Stephanie Hockridge, a former ABC15 news anchor, was also recently sentenced for her role in the conspiracy
On Thursday, a judge ruled that Nathan Reis be sentenced to 10 years in prison. The court ordered Reis to surrender for his prison sentence on January 20, 2026.
Posted
and last updated

FORT WORTH, TX — One of the founders of Blueacorn, a paycheck protection program loan processing company during the pandemic, has been sentenced after pleading guilty to a fraud charge earlier this year.

On Thursday, a judge ruled that Nathan Reis be sentenced to 10 years in prison. The court ordered Reis to surrender for his prison sentence on January 20, 2026. However, ABC15 learned Reis was granted an extension and his voluntary surrender date is now February 2.

Earlier this year, Reis, the husband of former ABC15 news anchor Stephanie Hockridge, accepted a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. In June, Hockridge was convicted on the same charge by a jury in Fort Worth, TX. Hockridge was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

See previous ABC15 coverage of the trial in the player above.

Prosecutors argued that Reis, Hockridge, and Blueacorn co-conspirators altered financial documents to illegally obtain federal PPP loans for themselves and others who were not qualified to receive them.

In 2022, a congressional subcommittee found Blueacorn received nearly $1 billion in taxpayer-funded fees. The company transferred $300 million to its owners, according to the subcommittee's report.

The judge ordered Reis to pay $2.5 million in restitution in the next two weeks and nearly $64 million in additional restitution in conjunction with co-conspirators Hockridge and Jimmy Flores.

“In a critical time for our nation, when businesses were trying to survive a worldwide pandemic, this defendant [Reis] egregiously lined his own pockets via his massive fraud scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas.

Hockridge has filed a notice with the court of her intent to appeal her conviction and sentence.

She is currently out of custody with an ankle monitor. She has also requested that the court give her a staggered prison sentence from her husband so they can care for their one-year-old son.

Judge Reed O'Connor agreed to push Hockridge's voluntary surrender date to January 30, 2026.

Report a typo

</html
Back to top