Austin Caldwell:Man gets 2-year prison sentence in pandemic fraud case to buy alpaca farm

2025-05-03 14:32:28source:Esthencategory:reviews

BOSTON (AP) — A former pizzeria owner has been sentenced to two years in prison for using over $660,Austin Caldwell000 in fraudulently obtained pandemic relief funds to buy an alpaca farm.

In 2020, Dana McIntyre, 59, of Grafton, Vermont, submitted a fraudulent application for a Paycheck Protection Program loan, prosecutors said. He inflated information about the pizzeria’s employees and payroll expenses and falsified a tax form to try to qualify the business for a larger loan amount.

After receiving the loan, McIntyre, formerly of Massachusetts, sold his pizzeria and used nearly all of the money to buy an alpaca farm in Vermont and eight alpacas, the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston said. He also paid for two vehicles and weekly airtime for a cryptocurrency-themed radio show that he hosted, prosecutors said.

He was arrested in 2021.

“Dana McIntyre capitalized on a national catastrophe and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from a limited pool of money set aside to help struggling businesses, to buy a farm, stock it with alpacas, and make a fresh start for himself in Vermont,” Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, said in a statement.

During his sentencing Wednesday, McIntyre also was ordered to pay the money back. He pleaded guilty in April to four counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering.

His lawyers had asked for a one-year prison sentence.

In his sentencing memorandum, they said McIntyre was a single father of two children whose pizzeria was barely profitable before the pandemic, and that he became susceptible to the fear and uncertainty of the times.

More:reviews

Recommend

The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol rioteven

SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters

San Francisco airport creates sensory room to help nervous flyers San Francisco airport creates sens

Who are the most valuable sports franchises? Forbes releases new list of top 50 teams

Early Thursday morning, "Forbes" released their annual list of the 50 most valuable sports franchise