Two Tuscaloosa Men Plead Guilty to COVID-19 Program Fraud

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A federal judge sentenced two Tuscaloosa men this week for defrauding the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Patrick Davis. 

These cases are the part of a collaboration between the U.S. Secret Service and local partners to identify and focus enforcement on individuals who defrauded the systems meant to provide relief during the pandemic. The joint effort also addresses violent crime by employing, where appropriate, federal laws to prosecute violent offenders in the Northern District of Alabama. 

U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler presided over the two unrelated cases.  Kenzarian Lemark Harris, age 38, was sentenced to 36 months in prison for PPP fraud.  Harris pleaded guilty in November 2023 to wire fraud.  According to the plea agreement, in February 2021 Harris submitted false and fraudulent PPP loan applications and received a PPP loan totaling more than $20,833.  Harris’ loan application included fraudulent tax and bank records and several misrepresentations – including that his business was in operation, that the business had employees for whom it paid salaries, that the PPP funds would be used to retain workers, and that the information provided in the loan applications was true and accurate. 

The court separately sentenced Reginald Dewayne Rhodes, Jr., age 26, to 18 months in prison for PPP loan fraud.  Rhodes pleaded guilty in October 2023 to wire fraud.  According to the plea agreement, between April and June 2021, Rhodes applied for and received a fraudulent PPP loan in the amount of $11,770.  Rhodes claimed to own and operate a carpet cleaning business that did not exist, and his application included fraudulent tax and bank records. 

In addition to their prison sentences, the court ordered both Harris and Rhodes to pay restitution to the U.S. Small Business Administration in the full amount of the PPP loans, plus interest. 

The U.S. Secret Service investigated the cases, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan “Jack” Harrington prosecuted. 

Throughout the country, federal, state, and local law enforcement are on high alert to investigate reports of individuals and businesses engaging in a wide range of fraudulent and criminal behavior.  For more information about these scams visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus/combatingfraud.

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.