MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – A man convicted last year of staging a fake holdup of his armored truck pleaded guilty Wednesday to filing a bogus application for COVID-19 funds while he was locked up on the original charge.
Jonah Tamoni Bessard, 26, of Mobile, pleaded guilty in US District Court to wire fraud. He filed an application for a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program, which Congress created as part of the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help businesses affected by the pandemic.
Bessard stated that he was the sole proprietor of a retail store founded in 2016; that he had a monthly income of $8,333 before the pandemic; and that he earned $104,000 during the 2020 tax year. All of it, according to his written plea agreement, was false.
Court records state that a series of “selfies” that Bessard submitted with his application to verify his identity show a bunk bed and light fixture in the background, indicating that he was in the Clarke County Jail at the time awaiting sentencing in the armored truck case .
Still, the Small Business Administration approved the loan and deposited $20,833 in Bessard’s account in May last year. He used most of that money to buy Bitcoin, purchase cell phone minutes and conduct transactions on Amazon and Google, the plea document states.
During a “compliance check,” staffers at the jail in June 2021 found Bessard had a cell phone containing images of himself and evidence that he used the device to communicate and conduct financial transactions using the Cash App.
Bessard’s attorney, Stewart Hanley, declined to comment after Wednesday’s hearing. The defendant faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the charge, although the actual sentence will likely be less under advisory sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend Bessard be sentenced at the low end of that guideline range.
Bessard previously admitted that he loaded up his Brink’s truck with cash belonging to New Horizon Credit Union in January 2021 and then drove to Doug’s Quick Mart on Higgins Road. He bought coffee and then came back to the vehicle, where he pretended to be the victim of a holdup, according to court documents. Court records show he made off with roughly $500,000.
Bessard also pleaded guilty in Mobile County Circuit Court in December to four counts of first-degree theft related to the Brink’s truck incident. A judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison, split to serve two years in prison with the rest suspended. That sentence is running at the same time he serves the federal sentence.
The Paycheck Protection Program case is the third time Bessard has been arrested. A federal grand jury also charged him with promoting prison contraband, accusing him of having a homemade knife, or “shank,” during his time at the Clark County Jail in Grove Hill. But a judge in May granted a request by the US Attorney’s Office to dismiss that charge “in the interest of justice.”
Another charge, alleging a conspiracy to commit fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program, will likely be dismissed when the judges sentence him in the fraud case. Senior US District Judge Ginny Granade set that sentencing for November.
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