KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. — A St. Albans woman is facing up to 10 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to receipt of stolen money.
Jessica Nutter, 39, of St. Albans admitted Wednesday to a scheme to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of COVID-19 relief funds from Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES).
Nutter admitted she attempted to defraud the PPP of $20,830 in COVID-19 relief loans from March 27, 2021, through around April 20, 2021. Nutter received two PPP loans during the time period from a Texas lender and the SBA, falsely stating that she had a business, as well as falsely representing her husband.
On one of the two PPP loans, Nutter claimed that she had a business called Nut House Wood that received $50,000 in gross income in 2019. On the second loan, Nutter said that her husband was an independent contractor for an online food delivery service and earned $50,000 in gross income during 2019. Nutter admitted that Nut House Wood was never a registered business in West Virginia and her husband was not an independent contractor during that time.
Nutter received the first loan of $10,415 on April 9, 2021, from a Texas bank and then transferred over $1,500 of the funds to a business in North Carolina for what was said to have been expenses covering a family vacation.
Nutter got the second loan of $10,415 on April 20, 2021, from a Texas bank and had them transferred to her husband’s personal bank account. Nutter said that those funds were used for family expenses.
Nutter now faces a maximum of 10 years in prison with up to three years of supervised release, as well as a $250,000 fine. She will also owe $25,830 in restitution.
Nutter will be sentenced on November 21, 2021.