Slidell Man Sentenced For Making False Statements To Small Business Administration

NEW ORLEANS – United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that DEAN MEILLEUR (“MEILLEUR”), age 57, a resident of Slidell, Louisiana, was sentenced on September 17, 2024, for making or using false writings or documents to the United States Small Business Administration (SBA), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(3).

According to court documents, MEILLEUR, submitted false writings and documents to the SBA to obtain Economic Impact Disaster Loans (“EIDL”).  In his EIDL applications, among other things, MEILLEUR falsely represented that he was the owner of a trucking business  formed in 2017 and, that he was eligible for EIDL funds.  As a result of these false submissions, MEILLEUR obtained $147,400 from the SBA to which he was not entitled. 

United States District Judge Brandon S. Long sentenced MEILLEUR to four (4) years of probation, payment of restitution in the amount of $147,400.00, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee. 

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

U.S. Attorney Evans commended  the Federal Bureau of Investigation for investigating this matter.  Assistant United States Attorney Andre J. Lagarde of the Public Integrity Unit is in charge of the prosecution.