South Bend Woman Sentenced to 52 Months in Prison

SOUTH BEND – Tonya R. Winston, 60 years old, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Cristal C. Brisco after being found guilty by a jury in August of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and one count of theft of government money, announced Acting United States Attorney M. Scott Proctor.

Winston was sentenced to 52 months of prison followed by 2 years of supervised release and ordered to pay $453,808.48 in restitution.

According to documents in the case, Winston devised a scheme to fraudulently obtain loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, which was a COVID-19 pandemic relief program intended to provide loans to small businesses. Winston obtained multiple loans for herself by submitting false loan applications, and she helped others to do the same. She also wrongfully obtained local housing benefits by misrepresenting her finances.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development-Office of Inspector General, and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Luke N. Reilander and Joel Gabrielse.