A federal judge sentenced Kyle Nathan Carlisle, 39, of Phenix City, to seven years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges related to COVID-19 loans from the federal government.
Acting U.S. Attorney Kevin Davidson announced that Carlisle received the loans through the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Following his prison sentence, Carlisle will be on supervised release for three years. Federal inmates are not eligible for parole.
The CARES Act was a federal law enacted in March 2020 to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering the economic harm caused by the COVID-19 lockdowns. The CARES Act established the EIDL program, which was directly administered by the Small Business Administration. This financial assistance program was designed to help eligible small businesses by giving them working capital to make regular payments for operating expenses such as payroll, rent or mortgage expenses, utilities, or business debt.
According to his plea agreement and other court records, between July 2020 and April 2021, Carlisle applied for 23 EIDL loans online, many of which were duplicates. Five of the loans were ultimately funded. Carlisle made multiple false statements and misrepresentations in his applications, including the businesses’ revenue, the number of employees, and that he had no felony convictions in the last five years.
Records indicate he had two 2016 felony convictions in Russell County. Carlisle further admitted to submitting forged documents with the applications including fake or altered business licenses.
As a result of his scheme, Carlisle received approximately $600,000 for four separate applications. Part of the funding was recovered before it cleared Carlisle’s accounts. The total amount sought in the scheme was $3,470,832. Carlisle was also convicted of money laundering for using the illegal proceeds to purchase a vehicle, among other unauthorized personal expenses.
In addition to the prison sentence, the judge ordered that Carlisle pay the Small Business Administration $547,846.54 in restitution. Carlisle was also ordered to forfeit the same amount to the federal government.
“Kyle Carlisle fabricated lies and forged documents in a scheme to divert taxpayer money for his own self-enrichment,” Davidson said. “The EIDL program was intended to provide relief to actual struggling businesses during a pandemic that created an enormous economic burden on the entire country. My office remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to aggressively pursue those who engage in activities that threaten the integrity of government programs.”
The FBI Mobile Field Office investigated the case, with assistance from the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General and the Alabama Department of Labor. Assistant United States Attorney J. Patrick Lamb prosecuted the case.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
