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You’ve been Googling sentences. Looking at statutory maximums. Seeing numbers like 30 years, 100 years, life in prison. Those numbers are meant to terrify you into compliance – and they’re working.
Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our goal is to show you what prosecutors don’t want you to understand about federal sentencing: the maximum prison sentence for PPP and EIDL fraud isn’t the number that determines how long you’ll actually serve. Nobody gets 100 years for pandemic loan fraud. What actually determines your sentence is a mathematical formula that converts the dollars you took into the months you’ll spend in federal prison. That formula lives in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, specifically § 2B1.1. And once you understand how it works, you’ll realize the “maximum” was never the point. The minimum based on your loss amount is what you should have been afraid of all along.
That’s the fundamental truth about federal sentencing that most legal websites won’t explain. They’ll list the statutory maximums – 30 years for bank fraud, 30 years for wire fraud, 30 years for false statements. Add them up and you get 90 years. Throw in money laundering and conspiracy and you’re looking at theoretical exposure of 150 years. But here’s what matters: Michael Fullerton, who committed one of the largest PPP fraud schemes prosecuted, got 286 months. That’s about 24 years – not 150. The math between what prosecutors threaten and what judges impose is completely different.
Heres the statutory breakdown that scares everyone. Bank fraud under 18 USC §1344 carries a maximum of 30 years imprisonment and a $1 million fine. Wire fraud under 18 USC §1343 carries 20 years – but if the fraud affects a financial institution, it jumps to 30 years. Making false statements to the SBA or a bank under 18 USC §1014 adds another 30 years. Money laundering under 18 USC §1956 adds 20 years per count.
Stack all those together and you’re looking at theoretical exposure exceeding 100 years in federal prison. A single fraudulent PPP application could theoretically result in multiple counts of wire fraud (every email, every electronic transfer), bank fraud, false statements, and money laundering. Prosecutors list all these charges on the indictment specifically because the combined maximum sentence creates psychological pressure.
But here’s what actually happens in court. Judges don’t sentence people to 100 years for PPP fraud. They’re following the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which calculate your sentence based on loss amount and offense characteristics – not statutory maximums. The statutory maximum is the ceiling. The guidelines calculation is the floor. And the floor is what matters, becuase thats usualy were sentences land.
Think about the psychology of this. You’re facing an indictment with 12 counts. The prosecutor tells you theoretically facing 120 years. Then they offer a plea deal: plead guilty to one count of bank fraud, and they’ll recommend 4 years. That offer looks like a gift from heaven – even though 4 years might actualy be above what the guidelines call for. The maximum exists to make the plea offer feel generous. Its leverage, not reality.
OK so here’s the formula that actually determines your sentence. Federal Sentencing Guidelines § 2B1.1 governs all fraud and deceit offenses. It starts with a base offense level, then adds levels based on loss amount:
Each two-level increase translates to aproximately 25-30% more prison time. A first-time offender with no criminal history facing offense level 15 is looking at 18-24 months. Level 18 gets 27-33 months. Level 21 gets 37-46 months. Level 24 gets 51-63 months.
Here’s what catches people off guard. The loss amount isn’t just what you actually received. It’s the “intended loss” – meaning what you tried to get. If you applied for $500,000 but only recieved $150,000 before getting caught, they calculate your sentence based on $500,000. The goverment counts your intention, not your success.
At Spodek Law Group, we’ve watched this formula destroy people who didnt understand it. A client thinks: I only took $75,000, thats not that much. But $75,000 adds 6 levels to your base. Combined with other enhancements, your looking at 15-21 months in federal prison. Thats a year and a half of your life for what some people spend on a car.
The loss amount table is the single most important factor in your sentence – more important than statutory maximums, more important than the specific charges filed.
Lets talk about the longest individual sentence handed down for PPP fraud. Michael Fullerton of Georgetown, Texas recieved 286 months in federal prison. Thats nearly 24 years. For loan fraud. His wife, Tiffany Fullerton, recieved 108 months – 9 years.
Heres what happened. The Fullertons used one existing and three dormant buisness names to submit six fraudulent PPP loan applications totaling over $3.5 million. Five of those applications were funded, netting them aproximately $3 million. They spent the money trying to start a marijuana grow operation, buying a motor home, luxury watches, and a boat.
The judge threw the book at them. Not just becuase of the amount – $3 million is serious but other defendants have stolen more and gotten less time. The Fullertons got hammered becuase of aggravating factors: multiple applications (showing a pattern, not a mistake), fabricated documents, and they used dormant buisness entities (suggesting premeditation and sophistication).
Todd Spodek has represented clients in federal fraud cases for years. The Fullerton case illustrates a truth that should terrify anyone facing PPP charges: your sentence isnt determined by the dollars alone. How you committed the fraud, wheather you showed pattern behavior, wheather you obstructed the investigation – these factors can double or triple your time.
Compare Fullerton’s 24 years to Amir Aqeel, who led a $20 million PPP fraud ring in Houston. Aqeel got 15 years – significently less then Fullerton despite the scheme being nearly seven times larger. Why? Aqeel probly cooperated more, accepted responsability earlier, or had fewer aggravating factors. The system rewards cooperation and punishes defiance.
Think about that for a moment. A $20 million fraud gets 15 years. A $3.5 million fraud gets 24 years. The math isnt linear. Your conduct during the investigation matters as much as what you stole.
Heres something the defense bar has been tracking closley. Defendants sentenced in 2024-2025 recieve prison terms 40% longer on average then defendants sentenced in 2021-2022 for identicle conduct.
Early in the pandemic, federal judges showed some leniency. The chaos of 2020. The desperation of small buisness owners. The confusing PPP rules. Some judges factored that context into sentencing, giving probation or home confinement where guidelines called for prison. That era is completley over.
The Department of Justice now treats PPP fraud as theft from American taxpayers during a national emergency. Judges arent interested in hearing about your confusion over the rules. Their not sympathetic to arguments about how desperatley you needed the money. The political pressure to make examples of PPP fraudsters has filtered down to the federal bench.
Consider what this means practicaly. The exact same conduct that got someone probation in 2021 is getting them 18-24 months in 2025. If your case hasnt been charged yet – if your still in the investigation phase – you’ll be sentenced in the harsh enviroment, not the lenient one. The window for mercy closed.
Every month you delay retaining counsel is a month closer to sentencing in an increasingly hostile judicial enviroment.
Beyond loss amount, the sentencing guidelines include “enhancements” that add levels to your offense. Each enhancement stacks on top of others. Heres what can multiply your sentence:
Role Enhancement: If you were an organizer or leader of a scheme involving five or more participants, add 4 levels. If you organized just one other person, add 2 levels. This is why prosecutors charge conspiracy – it automaticaly makes you part of a “scheme” and opens the door to role enhancements.
Sophisticated Means: If you used shell companies, fake documents, or other sophisticated methods, add 2 levels. Almost every PPP fraud case involves some fabricated documentation, so this enhancement is extremley common.
Abuse of Position of Trust: If you were a CPA, attorney, bank employee, or other professional who clients trusted, add 2 levels. Bank managers and accountants who helped with PPP fraud face this enhancement regulerly.
Obstruction of Justice: If you lied to investigators, destroyed documents, or tried to cover up the fraud after it was discovered, add 2 levels. This is why talking to the FBI without a lawyer is catastrofic – any inconsistancy in your statements becomes obstruction.
Aggravated Identity Theft: If you used someone elses Social Security number, EIN, or identity information, add a MANDATORY 24 months consecutive. This isnt a guideline calculation – its statutory. The judge has zero discretion. If you used a former employees information on your PPP application, your automaticaly getting two extra years on top of whatever the guidelines call for.
Add these together. Start with base level 7. Add 10 levels for $200,000 loss. Add 2 for sophisticated means. Add 2 for role enhancement. Your at level 21, looking at 37-46 months. Now add the 24-month identity theft enhancement. Your at 61-70 months – over 5 years in federal prison.
Lets get specific about what different loss amounts actualy produce in federal court. These are ranges based on real case outcomes we’ve tracked:
$10,000 to $50,000 (Small EIDL/PPP loans): First-time offenders who accept responsability typicaly recieve probation to 12 months. But in 2024-2025, prison time is becomeing more common even at this level. The Cincinnati defendant who got 18 months for a $21,000 fraud demonstrates the trend.
$50,000 to $150,000 (Medium loans): 12-24 months is the most common range. Richard Nieto recieved 46 months for $913,000 – but that was on the higher end with multiple aggravating factors.
$150,000 to $500,000 (Larger loans): 24-46 months is typical. At this level, prison is essentialy guaranteed. The question is how much, not wheather.
$500,000 to $1 million: 46-70 months. Your now in the range were your life is genuinley destroyed. Years of your children’s lives missed. Career completley ended. Financial recovery measured in decades.
Over $1 million: 70+ months. Kyle Carlisle recieved 92 months for $600,000 in EIDL fraud – nearly 8 years – becuase of aggravating factors. Multi-million dollar schemes regulerly produce sentences exceeding 10 years.
At Spodek Law Group, we analyze these ranges for every client during initial consultation. Knowing were you fall on the spectrum is essential for making rational decisions about wheather to fight, negotiate, or cooperate.
Here’s something about federal prison that genuinely surprises people. There’s no parole. When a federal judge sentences you to 46 months, you don’t get out in 2 years for good behavior. You serve at least 85% of that sentence – no exceptions.
A 46-month sentence means you serve aproximately 39 months before release. A 60-month sentence means 51 months. Whatever number the judge says is essentialy the number you do, minus 15% for good time credit if you maintain perfect behavior. That’s the only reduction available – and only if you maintain perfect disciplinary records throughout your sentence.
Compare this to state systems where parole can cut sentences in half. Federal prison is different. When the judge says 5 years, you’re doing at least 4 years and 3 months. The 85% rule makes federal sentencing extremley determinant – the judge knows exactly how long you’re actualy serving when they hand down the number.
Then there’s restitution. Federal judges order full restitution in basicly every PPP fraud case. If you took $150,000 and spent it, you owe $150,000 back. The goverment will garnish your wages, seize your assets, put liens on your property. Even after you serve your sentence, the financial obligation follows you permanantly. Some defendants finish their sentences only to discover the IRS treated their forgiven PPP funds as taxable income – meaning they owe taxes on money they already have to pay back.
And the statute of limitations. Congress extended it from 5 years to 10 years specificaly for pandemic fraud through the PPP and Bank Fraud Enforcement Harmonization Act of 2022. Loans from 2020 can be prosecuted until 2030. Loans from 2021 until 2031. If you think you’re safe becuase nothing has happened in four years, you’re not. The danger zone extends another five years past when you assumed the coast was clear.
The combination of these factors creates a nightmare scenario for defendants who don’t understand federal sentencing. You can’t plea bargain your way to probation once the guidelines calculation puts you at prison time. You can’t hope for early release once you’re in. And you can’t assume the government has forgotten about you just becuase years have passed. The federal system is designed to be determinant, harsh, and long-reaching.
After all this doom, here’s the critical question: what can actualy reduce your sentence below what the guidelines call for?
Acceptance of Responsibility: If you plead guilty and genuinley accept what you did, you can recieve up to 3 levels off your offense calculation. That can translate to 30% less prison time. But you have to do it early – waiting until trial is imminent eliminates most of this credit. The timing matters enormously. Defendants who fight for two years then plead guilty the week before trial don’t get this reduction.
Substantial Assistance (5K1.1 Motion): If you cooperate with prosecutors and provide information that helps them prosecute others, the government can file a motion allowing the judge to sentence you below the mandatory guidelines. This is the ONLY way to get below the guideline floor. First cooperators get the best deals. By the time multiple co-defendants are talking, your information is worth significantley less. We’ve seen clients who provided genuinely useful information recieve sentences 50% below what the guidelines called for. We’ve also seen clients wait too long and recieve no cooperation credit at all.
Variance Arguments: Skilled defense attorneys can argue for “variance” – asking the judge to deviate from guidelines based on individual circumstances. This requires extensive preparation, character witnesses, psychological evaluations, and compelling mitigation narratives. Some judges are receptive. Others follow guidelines rigidly. The quality of your mitigation package can mean the difference between guidelines and a substantial reduction.
Early Intervention: Perhaps most important – getting experienced counsel involved before charges are filed. During the investigation phase, there’s room to influence what charges appear in the indictment, wheather enhancements apply, and how the loss amount is calculated. Once the indictment is filed, many options close. A skilled attorney can sometimes convince prosecutors to charge bank fraud without wire fraud, or to exclude identity theft enhancements, or to calculate loss amount more favorably.
What Won’t Work:
Arguments that won’t reduce your sentence include: claiming you didn’t understand PPP rules (ignorance isn’t a defense to fraud), arguing you needed the money desperately (everyone needed money during the pandemic), pointing out that you used some funds legitimately (partial compliance doesn’t excuse fraud), or blaming the rushed rollout of the program (prosecutors don’t care that the SBA approved applications quickly).
The only arguments that matter are: legal defenses to the elements of the crime, procedural challenges to how evidence was obtained, genuine cooperation that helps prosecutors, and compelling mitigation that justifies variance from guidelines.
Todd Spodek and the attorneys at Spodek Law Group have navigated hundreds of federal sentencing calculations. The difference between understanding this math and being blindsided by it is often the difference between 18 months and 5 years. Between keeping some semblance of your life and losing everything.
Call us at 212-300-5196 before you talk to prosecutors, before you make any statements, before you do anything that could affect your sentencing calculation. The consultation is free. The mistake of waiting isn’t.
Your maximum sentence isn’t 100 years. But the minimum based on what you took and how you took it might still destroy your life. Understanding that formula – and finding every legal way to reduce it – is the only path forward.
Very diligent, organized associates; got my case dismissed. Hard working attorneys who can put up with your anxiousness. I was accused of robbing a gemstone dealer. Definitely A law group that lays out all possible options and best alternative routes. Recommended for sure.
- ROBIN, GUN CHARGES ROBIN
NJ CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEYS