Former Phoenix TV Anchor Sentenced for Multi-Million Dollar COVID Fraud

Stephanie Hockridge, a former anchor at Scripps-owned KNXV in Phoenix, has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison for her role in a multi-million-dollar COVID fraud scheme.

The 42-year-old, who transitioned from her career as a Phoenix TV anchor to an entrepreneur, was sentenced in Texas federal court on Friday. She was also ordered to pay nearly $64 million in restitution for the fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans she helped orchestrate during the height of the pandemic, according to the Justice Department.

Hockridge, who was found guilty in June of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, is scheduled to report to prison on December 30. She will serve her time at the minimum-security Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas. This facility currently houses other high-profile inmates, including sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, and "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" personality Jen Shah, as reported by AZ Family.

The fraud centered on a lending-services company called Blueacorn, which Hockridge and her husband, Nathan Reis, co-founded in 2020. The couple claimed the company was designed to help small businesses secure federal PPP loans. However, prosecutors revealed that the Scottsdale-based firm charged borrowers kickbacks based on a percentage of the funds received. Furthermore, they submitted applications to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), which ran the PPP program, that they knew contained fraudulent information.

In one application, Reis reportedly made false claims, including that he was a veteran and African American. In total, the couple's company processed over $63 million in bogus PPP loans, according to the DOJ. The PPP was an $800 billion federal loan initiative launched in 2020 to help small businesses retain workers during the pandemic. Investigators alleged that Hockridge and Reis personally enriched themselves using the proceeds from the scheme.

H/T NY Post