A federal judge in Miami sentenced a former Broward Sheriff’s Office employee to seven years in prison this week for her role in a COVID-19 relief fraud scheme in which she received two loans from the Paycheck Protection Program.
Stephanie Diane Smith, 53, of Sunrise, was convicted in March of wire fraud. Her conviction was the first at trial of 17 sheriff’s office employees accused of abusing the federal program designed to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prosecutors said Smith received two loans via the Small Business Administration’s Payroll Protection Program as a sole proprietor of two businesses called Children 1st Basketball Training and Agape Smith Vending in 2021. She was ordered to pay restitution of $31,108 along with a fine of $2,000.
Collectively, the 17 Broward Sheriff’s employees improperly obtained $495,171 from the loan programs, prosecutors said when announcing their arrests. While Smith was the first defendant to be convicted at trial, about a dozen others had pleaded guilty and were ordered to rebate the money they received back to the government while receiving probation of between a year to five years.
Another defendant, Carolyn Denise Wade, was tried in May by a jury that could not reach a unanimous decision, resulting in a mistrial. Her retrial date has not been set.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.