May 21—SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A federal judge sentenced a Joplin man Tuesday to five years and three months in prison for defrauding a federal government loan program and conducting a separate form of bank fraud known as “transaction reversal.”
The U.S. attorney’s office in Springfield said in a news release announcing the sentencing of Deaviyon Rockett, 22, that the defendant submitted at least $119,262 in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications between March and May 2021 under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
Rockett also defrauded a number of Joplin area residents of $176,007 through the illegal transaction reversal scheme, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Rockett pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud April 5 of last year in federal court in Springfield and appeared for sentencing Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark. The judge ordered that his sentence be served without parole and that he pay $260,000 in restitution.
The CARES Act was set up to provide emergency financial assistance to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic to help them retain workers, meet payrolls and make payments on their overhead. Both the principal and interest on the loans were eligible for forgiveness.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Rockett admitted to submitting six fraudulent loan applications in 2021 using the names of other people to falsely claim the existence of phony businesses and workers.
He would then seek access to those people’s bank accounts to have fraudulent checks written on the bank accounts of Coffeyville Community College and Santander Consumer USA deposited in their accounts. The U.S. attorney’s office said that once the checks were deposited, the bank would credit the account on a preliminary basis despite them having not been authorized by either entity.
Rockett would then immediately withdraw the amount of the checks or even empty the entire account of the victims before the bank reversed the deposits. The U.S. attorney’s office said at least $176,007 was fraudulently obtained by the defendant in this manner.
A probable-cause affidavit filed in Jasper County Circuit Court with state charges against Rockett prior to the U.S. attorney’s assuming prosecution of the case involved a Joplin woman he defrauded of about $4,100 through a transaction reversal.
The victim in that case told investigators that, in obtaining her bank account information, Rockett had promised that he would take some money out and then return it with interest. The defendant then used her debit card to deposit two fraudulent checks totaling $4,000 before making several fraudulent withdrawals totaling $4,106.
After defrauding her, Rockett blocked the woman on all social media and stopped responding to her, according to the affidavit.
The state charges were dismissed against Rockett when the U.S. attorney’s office assumed prosecution.
Jeff Lehr is a reporter for The Joplin Globe.
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