Wheeling Trucker Pilfered $300K in COVID Relief

⏱ 2 min read

Bradley Temple, the former head of Righteous Brother’s Trucking, wasn’t hauling freight – he was hauling federal cash. The Florida man is facing a decade in prison after federal investigators discovered he raked in as much as $300,000 in COVID-19 relief money he wasn’t entitled to. Temple allegedly used the funds for personal expenses, living large while legitimate businesses struggled during the pandemic.

Court records show Temple, who ran the operation out of Wheeling, West Virginia, cashed a $40,000 check specifically for a new ride – a fancy toy bought with money meant for struggling workers and businesses. But the car was just a down payment. Prosecutors say the scheme involved falsified applications for both Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funding.

The IRS and the NASA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) teamed up to unravel the scheme, tracing the funds and building a case against Temple. It’s a cold reminder that while West Virginia families were losing everything, guys like Temple were upgrading their lifestyles with stolen money.

Temple’s days of easy money are likely over. A federal judge will determine his fate, but with the potential for a 10-year sentence looming, it’s a steep price for a short-lived splurge.