Miami social media influencer Danielle Miller pleaded guilty to a scheme to defraud $1.5 million of COVID-19 relief funds, according to a Monday press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Miller pleaded guilty to an array of charges, including two counts of aggravated identity theft and three of wire fraud, according to the DOJ in Massachusetts. She was initially arrested in May 2021 and is slated to be sentenced June 27, 2023.
Between July 2020 and May 2021, Miller utilized funds from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loan along with Pandemic Unemployment Assistance to receive upwards of $1 million in government-funded benefits, the press release reads. False business names, along with the identities of over 10 people, reportedly helped Miller claim the benefits.
Prosecutors say Miller prioritized “publicizing her purchasing of luxury goods and renting of luxury accommodations” to her over 34,000 Instagram followers. She allegedly utilized the identity of a victim from Massachusetts “to arrange a Gulfstream private jet charter flight from Florida to California.”
New York’s Danielle Miller pleaded guilty to $1.5M fraud involving Miami luxury apartment, prosecutors say https://t.co/7Kx2adZh3m pic.twitter.com/HUrsoXYbhD
— WPLG Local 10 News (@WPLGLocal10) March 7, 2023
Miller was previously arrested and charged over a fraudulent bank withdrawal attempt in 2020, according to a May 2020 press release from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. She was sentenced to five years of prison in Florida on Oct. 21, 2022, but was later released on court order, WPLG Local 10 reported. (RELATED: Instagram Influencer From Nigeria Sentenced To Over 11 Years In Prison)
Miller later posted a TikTok with the hashtag “#housearrestbae” as she showed off what appears to be an ankle monitor, Local 10 reported.