There is one trial down and one to go for Cerissa Neal. A jury found the former Mississippi Department of Education Director not guilty of PPP fraud today in U.S. District Court.
A federal grand jury indicted her for four counts of fraud after she allegedly failed to disclose an earlier indictment on her applications for PPP Loans. JJ reported on September 3, 2020:
An indictment charges a culture of corruption existed at the Mississippi Department of Education. A federal grand jury indicted former MDE Director Cerissa Neal, Joseph Kyles, David Hunt, and Lambert Martin for a bid-rigging and kickback scheme.
Neal allegedly took kickbacks in exchange for steering contracts. The indictment accuses her of bid-rigging and splitting contracts so they would fall below the minimum thresholds that required competitive bidding. She allegedly manufactured phony, inflated price quotes to justify the sweetheart deals....
The indictment charged Neal with wire fraud, bribery, bribery involving federal programs, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. Neal currently awaits trial in that case. Earlier post. Neal goes to trial on the 2020 indictment in November.
The PPP fraud indictment alleged:
5. From at least as early as April 2020, the exact date being unknown to the Grand Jury, and continuing through on or about June 30, 2021, in Madison County, in the Northern Division of the Southern District of Mississippi, and elsewhere, the defendant, CERISSA RENFROE NEAL, aided and abetted by others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, did knowingly, and with intent to defraud, execute, attempt to execute, and cause the execution of, a scheme and artifice to defraud a financial institution, specifically Trustmark Bank, to obtain money, funds, and other property owned by, and under the custody and control of said financial institution, by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344.
6. It as the purpose of the scheme and artifice for the defendant and her accomplices to unjustly enrich themselves by misrepresenting defendant's eligibility for PPP Loans under the CARES Act. As part of the scheme and artifice, the defendant would lull the victim bank and continue to defraud the victim bank by falsely stating and confirming in documents submitted to the lending bank, that the defendant, CERISSA RENFROE NEAL, was not presently under indictment or criminally charged in any jurisdiction
Neal faced the following penalties in the PPP fraud case:
False statements on loan application: $1 million fine, 40-year prison sentence
Bank fraud: $1 million fine, 40-year prison sentence
False statements: $250,00 fine, 40-year prison sentence
Offense committed while on release: $250,000 fine, 10-year prison sentence.
Attorney John Collette represented Neal. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Tom Lee.
21 comments:
Jury nullification-
Good!
This entire kangaroo trial was racist from the start!
Why so many of these PPP fraud cases target people of color?
It’s some straight up racist ass bullshit!
@ 3:33
You do realize that Cerissa Neal is white don't you
She's white.
Any idea what the defense was? I’m assuming her indictment status was all stated on an application form. Not sure how she managed to wiggle out from that.
I think the bigger story is Colette won a trial
@3:33 - she’s as white as you are.
3:33 - it’s hard aint it. Everything looks like some racist ass bullshit. Everything smells like some racist ass bullshit. And there’s zero chance for this to get through, but maybe, all of it lives in your head cause you need it there to distract you from yourself.
Just remember, a prosecutor can easily indict a ham sandwich before a grand jury.
3:33…she is white and quite a nice looking lady. In my opinion too many people got over zealous on the ppp money. Just remember, the government will not give you anything for free. It’s not set up that way, at least for those who actually work. And therein lies the trap for ppp. I didn’t apply for it and I did ok without it. My experience does not reflect what others have done but legal counsel persuaded me not to apply and accept it. I’m the end I am glad I didn’t.
Ridiculous is all I can say. Obviously guilty. How do you lie on an application form that can have criminal consequences for doing so, and get off. I hope her other trial doesn't let her off. I think it is awful that people like this can get away with so much or plead down to one count and pretty much get slapped on the wrist.
Who prosecuted the case for DOJ?
Let's see:
3:33 Assumes the accused, being named Cerissa, and for no other reason than an assumption based on race, concludes that comments made about Cerissa, must be racist, because she is (assumed to be) Black.
Question: Can 3:33 possibly be a racist for playing the Race Card so soon and for the wrong reason?
When I was suing a business, my lawyer told me that when there's an option of pursuing the case in either federal court, always take the federal jury.
Even though 'Preponderance' and 'jury unanimity vs majority' come into play, federal, at least in this area of the state, is the better choice.
I can't imagine a Jackson/Hinds jury convicting her either.
She was targeted for prosecution in a racist-ass scheme -- no, wait. She was found not guilty and got off because she's a White woman -- no, wait. The jury was a bunch if racists and let her off because she's White.
Or something like that.
Don't you just love really stupid people?
Still laughing at 3:33 pm’s comment. Pathetic/sad/scary to be that focused on “racism” when this is clearly not the case.
Playing the "race card" successfully is all dependent on the timing.
3:33 is as white as Wonder Bread. Stop being so fucking dumb, people.
the guvermunt going after anyone for $ is pure irony. they make it in their basement 24/7. the US prints over $500,000,000 in new bills ever day. backed by nothing but the hope that the sheeple remain docile
Truth be: They would not have pursued indictment and prosecution had she NOT been white. She was set up to be an example. It failed.
Post a Comment