TORIS YOUNG SENTENCED FOR MAIL FRAUD AND THEFT OF GOVERNMENT FUNDS
TORIS YOUNG, age 41, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, was sentenced today by U. S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier to 10 years (120 months) for theft of government funds and mail fraud, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Barbier imposed three (3) years of supervisory release following the term of imprisonment, during which time the defendant will be under federal supervision and risks an additional term of imprisonment should he violate any terms of his supervised release. YOUNG was also ordered to pay full restitution to the Small Business Administration. This sentence is to run consecutively with the sentence he is currently serving.
According to court documents, after Hurricane Katrina, YOUNG, as the pastor and representative of the Bible Way Baptist Church located in New Orleans, Louisiana, applied for an SBA loan on behalf of the Church to repair and to rebuild the Church. YOUNG submitted fraudulent documents to the SBA and eventually received $963,900 in SBA loan proceeds. YOUNG did not use those funds to repair or to rebuild the Church. Instead, YOUNG used the loan funds for his own personal use, such as purchasing jewelry, vehicles, and real estate, and paying credit card debt and designer clothing retailers.
The case was investigated by the United States Small Business Administration- Office of Inspector General and the United States Secret Service- New Orleans Field Division and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Loan “Mimi” Nguyen.
