Montgomery Woman Pleads Guilty to COVID-19 Era Relief Fraud

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA - On July 31, 2024, 39-year-old Tametria Conner Dantzler, from Montgomery, Alabama, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges related to loans received through the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, announced United States Attorney Jonathan S. Ross.

The CARES Act is a federal law enacted in March 2020 to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act established the EIDL program, which was directly administered by the Small Business Administration. This financial assistance program was designed to help eligible small businesses by giving them working capital to make regular payments for operating expenses such as payroll, rent or mortgage expenses, utilities, or business debt.

According to her plea agreement and other court records, in June of 2020, Dantzler made false statements on EIDL applications. Dantzler claimed she created companies, including Conner Consulting LLC, and represented that the companies met the program requirements for EIDL loans. In all, Dantzler obtained approximately $927,338.47 in grants and forgivable loans to which she was not entitled. She also accepted fees or traded fake "payroll checks" in exchange for assisting others to obtain an additional $1,049,864 in grants and forgivable loans to which they were not entitled. Also in her plea agreement, Dantzler admitted she used some of the proceeds for unauthorized purposes, such as buying a house and paying off a vehicle for her husband.

"Government fraud is not a victimless crime," said United States Attorney Ross. "A financial loss to the United States is a loss to the U.S. taxpayer. The U.S. Attorney's Office, along with law enforcement partners, will continue efforts to identify and prosecute anyone personally profiting from funds intended to provide relief for businesses."

"I hope those who defrauded the COVID-19 relief programs are noticing the number of people being held accountable in the justice system for their crimes," said Demetrius Hardeman, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office. "IRS Criminal Investigation special agents and our law enforcement partners continue initiating new investigations on people who diverted COVID-19 relief money into their own pockets which was intended to help economically stress businesses."

"Tametria Dantzler fabricated documents and created a fraud scheme that diverted critical taxpayer money that was intended to help actual struggling businesses during an unprecedented pandemic for her own self-enrichment," said Acting Special Agent-in-Charge George Richardson with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General. "HUD OIG remains steadfast in its commitment to working with our prosecutorial and law enforcement partners to aggressively pursue those who engage in activities that threaten the integrity of HUD programs."

Following her guilty plea, Dantzler faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison, plus an order of restitution to her victims. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled for Dantzler in the coming months. At that hearing, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI Mobile Field Office and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation investigated this case, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Megan A. Kirkpatrick is prosecuting the case.

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 via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.