NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Joe Lewis Jefferson, 50, of Nashville, has been sentenced to four years in prison for his role in defrauding the emergency rental assistance program created to support households impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced the sentence today.
Jefferson pleaded guilty on August 12, 2024, to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of failure to file a tax return. He was also ordered to pay $323,824 in restitution to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
According to court documents, Jefferson orchestrated a scheme in which he recruited individuals to falsely pose as landlords for rental properties in Eastern North Carolina. He then submitted fraudulent applications to the North Carolina Housing Opportunities and Prevention of Evictions (NC HOPE) Program, which provided emergency rental assistance to help prevent evictions during the pandemic.
The NC HOPE Program was designed to assist renters by covering overdue or future rent payments. The program issued checks directly to landlords, but Jefferson and his co-conspirators had the checks mailed to addresses under their control. They then cashed the checks by visiting banks with the fake landlords and split the proceeds.
Jefferson and his accomplices submitted at least 44 fraudulent applications, leading to the disbursement of approximately $279,000 in improper rental assistance funds.
The sentencing serves as a reminder of the consequences of exploiting pandemic relief programs intended to help those in need, and Jefferson’s actions contributed to the diversion of much-needed resources during a critical time.