Credit: U.S. Attorney’s Office-Northern District of Mississippi
A Columbus man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining a $200,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Ramirez Ivy, of Columbus, Mississippi conspired with Lakeith Faulkner, Norman Beckwood and others to each receive $200,000 from the Small Business Administration (SBA) based on a fraudulent loan application. The loan applications contained fictitious documents and claimed business revenue that did not exist.
In September 2024, after a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills, the jury found Ivy and Smith guilty on all counts.
Judge Mills sentenced Ivy to 18 months to be followed by five years supervised release and ordered him to pay $200,000 in restitution to the SBA.
On Jan. 23, Felicia L. Smith, Ivy’s co-defendant at the September trial, was sentenced to serve six months imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release. Smith was ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution to the SBA.
On Dec. 7, 2022, Faulkner, a former SBA employee, entered a plea of guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. On May 24, 2023, U.S. District Judge Debra M. Brown sentenced Faulkner to serve sixty-two (62) months imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release. Faulkner was also ordered to pay $10,620,452.26 in restitution to the SBA.
On Jan. 17, 2023, Beckwood entered a plea of guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock sentenced Beckwood to serve 62 months imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release. In addition to prison time, Faulkner was ordered to pay $10,620,452.26 in restitution to the SBA. In connection with his guilty plea, Beckwood also forfeited $700,147.74, a 2018 Mercedez Benz C Class and a 2020 Mercedes Benz G63.
Thirty (30) other individual borrowers have also been charged in connection with the same scheme.
“Ramirez Ivy was a law enforcement officer when he deceptively obtained funds that were intended to provide emergency financial relief to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he absolutely knew better than to engage in this type of fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner. “Today’s sentence should reinforce the fact that the prosecutorial and law enforcement partnership on display in this case will continue until the stolen money is recovered and the perpetrators have been brought to justice.”
“Abusing a federal program designed to assist Americans in a time of need has, and will continue to be, aggressively investigated by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. What makes this crime even more egregious is that Mr. Ivy was a police officer in a position of public trust,” stated Assistant Inspector General Gary Smith for Investigations for the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. “This sentencing demonstrates our commitment to investigating and bringing to justice anyone who victimizes the American taxpayer. I want to thank TIGTA’s Special Agents, our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their unwavering dedication to this goal.”
“Today’s sentencing of former police officer, Ramirez Ivy, demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to investigating those who defraud the federal government, no matter their position within the community,” remarked Special Agent in Charge Robert Eikhoff for the FBI Jackson Division. “The FBI, alongside our partners, will continue to investigate and hold individuals accountable, like Mr. Ivy, who commit fraudulent crimes against the U.S. Government.”
“The abuse of programs designed to assist small businesses is unacceptable. This sentencing underscores the SBA Office of Inspector General’s unwavering commitment to holding fraudsters accountable and ensuring justice is served,” said Sophia Curtis Acting Special Agent in Charge of the SBA OIG’s Central Region.
This scheme was initially uncovered during a civil investigation, led by the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Harland Webster.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Clayton A. Dabbs, Parker S. King and Samuel D. Wright of the Northern District of Mississippi are prosecuting the criminal case.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
