A former Phoenix, Arizona television news anchor, Stephanie Hockridge, has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for defrauding a loan program aimed at helping businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Justice Department said.
Newsweek contacted Hockridge’s attorney for comment by email after business hours.
Why It Matters
The sentencing comes as efforts are being made to hold accountable those who exploited relief measures accountable, in the United States and also in other countries.
Billions of dollars of pandemic relief funds were stolen in the United States as the government rushed to cushion the economic impact of the novel coronavirus as it swept around the world, beginning in early 2020. Newsweek reported in December 2021 that nearly $100 billion, largely unemployment and benefit money, had been stolen from $3.4 trillion of COVID-19 relief funds.
What To Know
From about April 2020 to May 2021, the former television anchor, Hockridge, 42, took part in a scheme that swindled tens of millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, the Justice Department said.
Hockridge co-founded a company called Blueacorn in April 2020 with her husband, Nathan Reis, to help small businesses get the loans, which were intended to help businesses devastated by the pandemic continue paying their staff.
“To get larger loans for certain PPP applicants, Hockridge and her co-conspirators fabricated documents, including payroll records, tax documentation and bank statements. Hockridge and her co-conspirators charged borrowers kickbacks based on a percentage of the funds received,” the department said in a release.
“In total, Hockridge and her coconspirators processed over $63 million in fraudulent PPP loans,” the Justice Department said.
Hockridge and Reis were indicted by a grand jury in November 2024 on federal charges, one count of conspiracy and four counts of wire fraud.
On June 20, a jury found Hockridge guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Hockridge worked as a news anchor for ABC15, an ABC-affiliated television station in Phoenix, from 2011 to 2018, the station said.
ABC15 reported that Hockridge’s defense team argued that the government’s case focused on a small portion of loans, about 20 borrowers out of hundreds of thousands.
Her lawyers said they would appeal, the station reported.
Hockridge, who had faced up to 20 years in prison, will be held at Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas — a minimum-security facility that houses Ghislaine Maxwell, People magazine reported.
What People Are Saying
The Justice Department said of its Criminal Division’s Fraud Section: “The Fraud Section has prosecuted over 200 defendants in more than 130 criminal cases and has seized over $78 million in cash proceeds derived from fraudulently obtained PPP funds, as well as numerous real estate properties and luxury items purchased with such proceeds.”
What Happens Next
Reis, who previously pleaded guilty, is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
