A former TV anchor-turned entrepreneur convicted of stealing millions of dollars in a COVID-era fraud scheme will spend the next decade behind bars at the same Texas prison camp as infamous sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
Earlier this year, a federal grand jury found Stephanie Hockridge, 42, guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. On Friday, Hockridge was sentenced to 10 years in lockup at a Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, the New York Post reported. She was also ordered to pay over $63 million in restitution.
Hockridge was convicted “in a scheme to fraudulently obtain over $63 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act,” according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Hockridge co-founded lender service provider Blueacorn in April 2020, ostensibly to help small businesses and individuals secure PPP loans during the COVID-19 pandemic, the DOJ said. She previously worked as a TV news anchor for KNXV in Phoenix, the Post wrote.
Screenshots of internal messages within Blueacorn show Hockdridge instructing staff to prioritize what were known as “VIPPP” clients over regular PPP borrowers.
“To get larger loans for certain PPP applicants, Hockridge and her co-conspirators fabricated documents, including payroll records, tax documentation and bank statements,” the DOJ wrote in a press release. “Hockridge and her co-conspirators charged borrowers kickbacks based on a percentage of the funds received.”
Hockridge, however, claimed Blueacorn was a “sincere effort to support small businesses” during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Post.
The PPP was implemented to provide small businesses with funds to keep their workers on payroll, hire back employees who may have been laid off and cover applicable expenses like rent, utilities and mortgage interest during the pandemic.
Maxwell is serving her 20-year sentence at the same prison camp in Bryan for her role in a scheme to sexually exploit and abuse multiple minor girls with Jeffrey Epstein over the course of a decade.
Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes and former “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Jennifer Shah are also serving time at the same facility.
Neither Hockridge’s attorney nor the Federal Bureau of Prisons immediately returned Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
