SAVANNAH, GA: A former soldier paid for submitting false information to obtain COVID-19 relief funding and a Camden County woman who received funding after providing fake documents have been sentenced to federal prison.
Jerrod Bellamy, 26, of Savannah, was sentenced to 22 months in prison and ordered to pay $223,807.14 in restitution after previously pleading guilty to Conspiracy and Filing a False Tax Return, said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. Bellamy admitted he provided false information in his personal tax return, fraudulently obtained a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, and conspired with others to fraudulently obtain PPP loans for them. He also received more than $50,000 in kickbacks for helping co-conspirators fraudulently obtain COVID-19 relief funding. At the time of his offenses, Bellamy was a Specialist in the U.S. Army and stationed at Hunter Army Airfield. He since has been discharged.
In a separate case, Roshawnda Richardson, 29, of Waverly, Ga., was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay $166,665.50 in restitution after previously pleading guilty to Wire Fraud. Richardson admitted participating in a scheme to fraudulently obtain PPP funding for two businesses.
U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood ordered Bellamy and Richardson to each serve three years of supervised release after completion of their prison terms, and there is no parole in the federal system.
“These sentences, with…
