U.S. Attorney Duane Evans announced that 42 YO Tracie L Mixon of Hammond pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Susie Morgan to a bill of information for making false statements related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
On March 27, 2020, The CARES Act established several new temporary programs and provided for the expansion of others to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Among these programs, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) authorized forgivable loans backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to small businesses to retain workers and maintain payroll, make mortgage interest payments, lease payments, and utility payments. The PPP allows the interest and principal on the PPP loan to be forgiven if the business spends the loan proceeds on these expense items within a designated period of time after receiving the proceeds and uses at least a certain percentage of the PPP loan proceeds on payroll expenses.
According to court documents, Mixon made false statements on an SBA form to an approved lender on or about February 23, 2021, to fraudulently obtain a PPP loan. Mixon affirmed that she had not been previously convicted of federal program financial assistance fraud when, in truth, she pled guilty, in the Eastern District of Virginia, to conspiracy to commit federal student loan fraud and mail fraud in a scheme that involved stolen identities.
Sentencing will be on March 12, 2024. At that time, Mixon faces a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to $250,000 in fines, and up to three years of supervised release for her false statements.
