A former star on the court made a play off the court that landed him not in the penalty box, but under the gaze of the law. Lorenzo Gordon, a 41-year-old ex-professional basketball player, was saddled with a sentence of five years probation and compulsory community service this Monday after being convicted of defrauding government pandemic relief programs.
Gordon, who also must pay back upwards of $300,000, dipped his hands into the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program kitty, not once or twice, but five times in total, claiming economic hurt that wasn’t his. These funds were carved out to support struggling businesses and keep paychecks flowing during the pandemic siege. According to a press release from the Department of Justice, the programs from which Gordon drew are the very lifelines meant for those genuinely staggering under COVID-19’s economic wallop.
With no small measure of irony, Gordon sought relief for three companies—Logo Fitness LLC, Elite 50 Basketball Training LLC, and Elite Health and Fitness Company LLC—and banked $107,074 through PPP and another $165,700 through EIDL loans and advances. Gordon "took advantage of these programs for his personal gain despite suffering no such economic injury," Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Klocke wrote in a sentencing memo. These details, shedding light on the depth of Gordon's swindle, emerge from the government's account of the case.
The once hoopster, now turned felon, accepted his guilt, by copping a plea last September to one count of theft of government money. Beyond repaying the ill-gotten cash, Gordon's settlement with the justice system will see him chalk up 200 hours of service to the community. The IRS alongside the watchdogs from the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation that led to Gordon’s convictions, with Klocke spearheading the prosecution.
