A federal appeals court has tentatively scheduled November oral arguments in the case of Stephanie Hockridge, the former Phoenix ABC15 news anchor convicted last year in the multimillion-dollar Blueacorn PPP loan fraud scheme. Hockridge, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison, remains free while her appeal plays out — even as her husband and co-defendant, Nathan Reis, is already serving his own 10-year sentence in an Oregon prison.
Hockridge was convicted of wire fraud conspiracy tied to Blueacorn, the Scottsdale-based fintech lender service provider she co-founded with Reis in April 2020, according to ABC15 Arizona. Prosecutors presented evidence that Hockridge and her co-conspirators fraudulently obtained federal government loans for themselves and others during the COVID-19 pandemic, per the station's report. A federal jury in the Northern District of Texas convicted her on the single conspiracy count in June 2025 while acquitting her of four separate substantive wire fraud counts, according to a Department of Justice announcement.
Hockridge's appeal raises several procedural claims, including that the jury received improper instructions, that the trial took place in the wrong venue, and that the trial court wrongly excluded exculpatory exhibits, the same station's report notes. Federal prosecutors have pushed back in court filings, arguing that the district court's evidentiary and jury-charge rulings were correct and that any error would not have changed the jury's verdict. The government has also argued in filings that the evidence of Hockridge's guilt is overwhelming.
A Husband Behind Bars While She Stays Free
The split in the couple's circumstances is stark. Reis is already serving his 10-year sentence in an Oregon prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud weeks before his own trial was set to begin, a plea deal reported by 12News. Hockridge, meanwhile, has been allowed to delay the start of her own prison sentence while her conviction is under appeal, and a judge even permitted her to travel to visit Reis in August and September, per the same reporting.
Hockridge was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in November, along with an order to pay $63 million in restitution to the Small Business Administration and to report to the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, according to a report from the Economic Times. Both she and Reis are appealing a court-ordered joint restitution obligation of more than $60 million, and neither has been required to pay it while the appeal is pending, ABC15's reporting states.
From News Desk to Fraud Coaching Scheme
Before Blueacorn, Hockridge spent years as a familiar face on Phoenix television, working as a news anchor for ABC affiliate KNXV-TV from 2011 to 2018 and earning an Emmy nomination during that tenure, according to a report from iHeart. That public profile made her prosecution and conviction a closely watched local story, one Hoodline has followed since her initial indictment was first reported in 2024 charges announcement.
Court filings submitted in May 2025 included a 91-page prosecution exhibit list featuring encrypted WhatsApp messages and text conversations, among them a text in which Hockridge joked to Reis about applying for “free money” despite not qualifying, court records cited by ABC15 Arizona show. Prosecutors used those internal messages to argue the founders knew about fraudulent loan activity occurring under their company's name.
How the Blueacorn Scheme Worked
Blueacorn operated as a fast-track fintech portal for small businesses seeking Paycheck Protection Program loans, and a December 2022 report from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis found the company facilitated more than $12 billion in PPP loans while collecting over $1 billion in taxpayer-funded processing fees — yet spent just $8.6 million on fraud prevention. Court testimony and trial documentation from December 2025, detailed by the Coleman Report, described a specialized “VIPPP” program in which Blueacorn systematically coached applicants to generate falsified tax documents claiming $100,000 in income in order to receive maximum $20,832 sole-proprietor loans.
A separate December 2022 congressional investigation, reported by ProPublica, found that Reis and Hockridge personally obtained nearly $300,000 in PPP loans, with Reis falsely identifying himself on one application as an African American military veteran. Those findings pointed to alleged personal enrichment by the founders that went beyond the loans they processed for outside clients.
A Piece of a Much Larger National Problem
The Blueacorn case sits within a much larger pattern of pandemic relief fraud nationwide. A June 2023 report from the Small Business Administration's Office of Inspector General estimated that more than $200 billion — over 17 percent of all funds disbursed under the PPP and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs — was siphoned off by fraudulent applicants across the country. A 2021 University of Texas at Austin study cited by congressional investigators found that PPP loans originated through fintech firms like Blueacorn were 3.23 times more likely to show signs of fraud or misreporting than loans issued by traditional banks.
For now, the case returns to federal appeals court judges, who are set to hear oral arguments in Hockridge's wire fraud conspiracy case at the tentative November date. Hoodline previously reported on her 10-year sentence and restitution order when it was handed down last November, and the outcome of the appeal will determine whether that sentence, and the joint $60 million-plus restitution order, ultimately stands.
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