Alabama woman pleads guilty to defrauding pandemic relief fund out of $2 million

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama woman has pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges for fraudulently claiming nearly $2 million in pandemic relief funds.

Tametria Conner Dantzler, 39, entered the plea Wednesday. She could get up to 20 years in prison when she’s sentenced.

According to her plea agreement and court records, Dantzler falsely reported that companies she created qualified for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, a federal initiative created in March 2020 to provide emergency financial assistance to American businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Government fraud is not a victimless crime,” said Jonathan Ross, the federal prosecutor on the case. “A financial loss to the United States is a loss to the U.S. taxpayer.”

Dantzler is the head of the D.A.T.S.M.O.M., a nonprofit whose name stands for Disability as an Ability Toward Success: Moms on the Move. The organization says on its website that it offers free resources, including scholarships, to families with children with autism.

According to prosecutors, Dantzler personally received nearly $927,338 in pandemic funds that she used to buy a house and pay off her husband’s car, among other things. She also helped others receive $1,049,864 in funds in exchange for fees or fabricated payroll checks. Prosecutors didn’t say whether those other people would face charges.

An Associated Press investigation determined that more than $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funding may have been stolen nationwide.