Hampton man sentenced for COVID-19 loan fraud while in halfway house

A Hampton man was sentenced to 27 months in prison for falsely applying for loans intended to grant COVID-19 relief to small businesses.

According to court documents, in August 2020 and January and February 2021, Marlon McKnight, 44, falsely applied for four loans administered by the Small Business Administration. He applied for three Economic Injury Disaster Loans and one Paycheck Protection Program loan using false information, including false business names, income, and employee information, as well as a false tax return.

McKnight sought over $100,000 in loans and obtained approximately $35,000. McKnight used the $35,000 obtained to pay his personal expenses, contrary to the purposes for these loans. McKnight submitted certain false applications from a halfway house and others after just being released from the Bureau of Prisons.

McKnight had been incarcerated because this instance of fraud came directly on the heels of a previous federal fraud scheme wherein McKnight, his wife, and several others victimized banks and stole individual identities.

McKnight had been sentenced to 30 months for that scheme and ordered to pay nearly $100,000 in restitution. In addition to the 27-month sentence, McKnight was sentenced to an additional four months of consecutive incarceration for his violation of supervised release from his prior case.