A Southwest Georgia man has been found guilty of wire fraud related to a pandemic relief scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Georgia. Tyreek Brown, 28, from Pelham, faces up to 30 years in prison after being convicted on one charge of wire fraud on August 12 following a trial that began a day earlier. His sentencing date will be set by the court.
Found guilty at trial, Brown's involvement is part of a broader case that includes two family members who have already entered guilty pleas. Sherronica Jackson, 38, also from Pelham, admitted to bank fraud on July 29, with the possibility of facing a similar 30-year prison sentence and a $1 million fine. Alan Brown, 52, pleaded guilty to bank fraud on July 16, facing the same potential maximum sentence and fine. These sentencings will take place on November 12, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The charges stem from fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans that are part of the federal CARES Act, designed to keep workers employed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Court documents reference Jackson applying for and obtaining a PPP loan falsely claiming a gross income of $97,000 for 2019. Without a named business or category on the application, she received a loan of $20,207 on March 31, 2021.
Tyreek Brown and Alan Brown received their respective loans based on similarly false pretenses, using a shared address in Pelham and claiming non-existent businesses. With sentencing pending, they both falsely claimed gross incomes in 2019 that they did not earn. After one of the loan approvals, Tyreek Brown sent Jackson $3,000 via Cash App and Zelle from a joint account, despite no such business existing, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Chief U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner presided over the case, emphasizing the federal system's nonexistence of parole. Seeking to uphold justice against such criminal schemes, U.S. Attorney William R. "Will" Keyes affirmed that his office will continue to pursue those defrauding taxpayers, saying, "Our office will pursue justice for these types of criminal schemes that deliberately defraud taxpayers." The case was under the watch of the Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General (DOJ-OIG), as part of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Taskforce with Assistant U.S. Attorney Veronica Hansis leading the prosecution.
