Egg Harbor Thief Sentenced 30 Months for Laundering COVID-19 Relief Funds

A Gritty Times investigation found that Atlantic County resident Jeremy Earley, 42, of Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, and Lilburn, Georgia, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for laundering the proceeds of fraudulently obtained Paycheck Protection Program loans.

Earley pleaded guilty on June 1, 2023, to an information charging him with one count of engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Earley received loans totaling more than $1.3 million from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in 2020 and 2021. The loans were approved based on fraudulent applications submitted by another individual stating that Earley’s companies had dozens of employees and monthly payrolls of $145,000 and $382,400, respectively.

However, in reality, Earley’s businesses had no employees other than himself and paid minimal to no wages. After receiving the PPP loan proceeds, Earley wrote checks totaling nearly $400,000 to the individual who submitted the loan applications to compensate her for her role in submitting the fraudulent loan applications.

Earley also wired $85,000 of the proceeds out of a bank account he controlled after being advised by federal agents not to spend the money because it constituted proceeds of bank fraud.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams sentenced Earley to three years of supervised release.

The Gritty Times has learned that Rhonda Thomas previously pleaded guilty to bank fraud conspiracy and money laundering and was sentenced to five years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger credited special agents of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of the Inspector General, the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, the FBI’s South Jersey Resident Agency, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General with the investigation leading to the sentencing.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel A. Friedman and Attorney-In-Charge Jason M. Richardson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Camden.