A former Phoenix news anchor has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars for taking part in a COVID-19-era loan fraud scheme alongside her husband.
On Friday, a federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, sentenced Stephanie Hockridge, an ex-KNXV employee, to 120 months in prison. She was also ordered to pay nearly $64 million in restitution and must serve supervised release for two years.
The court asked that Hockridge be held at Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, a minimum security facility that houses Ghislaine Maxwell, Elizabeth Holmes and reality TV star Jen Shah. She is due to surrender by 2 p.m. on Dec. 30.
Earlier this year, a jury found her guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud but acquitted her of four counts of wire fraud.
During the pandemic, Hockridge and her husband, Nathan Reis, started a tech company, BlueAcorn, to help small businesses secure federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
However, the feds said the couple created fake payroll records, tax documents, and bank statements to allow some applicants to obtain larger loans.
Prosecutors said the couple showed others how to submit fake PPP loans, and even obtained a loan for a company with no employees.
A congressional report, as reported by Arizona’s Family Investigates, showed that the Scottsdale-based company raked in over a billion dollars in taxpayer money for processing loans.
BlueAcorn’s partner lenders facilitated almost three times as many PPP loans in 2021 as J.P. Morgan, Chase and Bank of America combined. The congressional report alleged that the couple also moved to Puerto Rico after getting most of their PPP loans forgiven.
“In total, Hockridge and her coconspirators processed over $63 million in fraudulent PPP loans,” the DOJ said.
Reis accepted a plea deal and is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
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