Leslie Bethea, a 30-year-old Tennessee woman, plead guilty to wire fraud after it was discovered that she had spent $8,000 of a $21,000 Paycheck Protection Program loan on a trip to the Trump International Beach Resort in Florida and elective cosmetic surgery. Bethea had previously been released on supervised release after serving a two year sentence for a 2019 wire fraud charge. To obtain the loan, Bethea lied on her application, claiming she had made $100,000 in 2019 and that she had never been convicted of fraud. Bethea then spent the money on the trip to the resort and the surgery, leading to her being caught by the Secret Service. She was then sentenced to six and a half years in prison and three years of supervised release, as well as ordered to repay the $20,805 she stole from the government. In addition, Bethea was previously required to repay $85,000 for her 2019 wire fraud crime.
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