Rose Ann Shaw of Ladau, Missouri was sentenced Wednesday to two years and three months in prison and repayment of funds after defrauding taxpayers of $357,000 through the COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program.
A statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Missouri stated that U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk sentenced the 65-year-old Wednesday after she pleaded guilty on February 28 to one count of bank fraud. (RELATED: DANNENFELSER: Democrats Smear Another Qualified Judicial Nominee Because Of Roe V Wade)
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in March that this was part of a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office.
St. Louis County woman sentenced to 2 years in prison, ordered to repay $357,000 for pandemic loan fraud https://t.co/OuD3yoDZtd
— U.S. Attorney EDMO (@USAO_EDMO) November 30, 2022
In May 2020, Shaw submitted a loan request from the Paycheck Protection Program or PPP for Shaw Investments LLC. In the fraudulent request, she claimed that the business had seven employees with an average monthly payroll of $44,400 in order to receive a loan of $111,000.
The statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office explained, “Shaw lied about the number of employees and the companies’ payroll in her applications on behalf of three companies that she’d set up.”
Shaw repeated the process with two other companies; Shaw Brokerage Real Estate Investment Firm, LLC. in May; and Vision, LLC in August, receiving loans of $135,638 and another $111,000 respectively.
Shaw also owes restitution payments from a prior federal fraud conviction from 2007, which sentenced her to 33 months in prison and ordered to repay $224,576 in fraudulently obtained disability payments, according to the Post-Dispatch.
The local outlet reported in March that she also violated her supervised releases twice and received an additional 11 months of prison time in 2011 and another five in 2016 according to court records. Shaw was released from federal prison in October 2016.
U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk was sworn in by Chief Judge Rodney W. Sippel in a private ceremony on Fri Dec 6. Judge Pitlyk fills the vacancy created when Senior District Judge Catherine D. Perry took senior status at the end of 2018. https://t.co/E5qnQIcSTJ pic.twitter.com/sQIvGqCoGx
— US District Court MOED (@USCourtsMOED) December 6, 2019
Judge Sarah Pitlyk was appointed as a federal Judge in the Eastern District of Missouri in 2019 by former President Donald Trump according to The Epoch Times. Pitlyk was a prominent pro-life attorney and was recommended by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri.
“Sarah’s strong legal experience, sharp intellect, and commitment to the rule of law make her an outstanding choice for the Eastern District,” Hawley wrote in a statement. “I am confident that she will serve the people of Missouri as a principled and fair judge for decades to come.”