- A former NFL wide receiver was sentenced to more than 3 years in prison over PPP loan fraud.
- The Department of Justice said Joshua Bellamy falsified documents to get a $1.2 million loan.
- Bellamy also paid an alleged co-conspirator $311,000 for helping falsify documents, the DOJ said.
Former NFL player Joshua Bellamy was sentenced to more than three years in prison for fraudulently getting $1.2 million through a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, the Department of Justice said on Friday.
The DOJ said Bellamy, 32, got the loan for his company, Drip Entertainment LLC, using falsified documents and false information.
Bellamy pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge on June 9, according to court documents.
DOJ also said Bellamy admitted to using the loan to purchase personal items like jewelry and a hotel stay.
The former wide receiver also attempted to get PPP loans on behalf of family and friends and paid an alleged co-conspirator, James Stote, $311,000 for helping with the false documents for the loan.
Bellamy will also have three years of supervised release after his prison sentence and will have to pay back the $1,246,565 he received, the DOJ said.
NBC News reported that Bellamy played with the Chicago Bears for five seasons before playing a single season with the New York Jets in 2019. He was cut from the team in September 2020.
Prosecutors said that Bellamy was part of a larger scheme in which several people filed dozens of falsified applications seeking more than $24 million in PPP loans. Over $17 million was approved, NBC News reported.
The DOJ said that a Florida woman who also paid Stote to falsify documents for a loan she also used for personal gain was sentenced to two years in federal prison.