OAKLAND – A 53-year-old Brentwood man who misrepresented his marijuana distribution business as a nonprofit to obtain $300,000 in COVID-19 relief funds was sentenced Thursday to just over three years in federal prison, according to prosecutors.
Thanh Duy Nguyen previously pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Nguyen ran and was the sole officer of T&A Distribution, an unlicensed interstate marijuana trafficking scheme with grow houses around the Bay Area, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Nguyen used the business to secure two Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act authorized the SBA to provide EIDL loans to small businesses experiencing substantial financial disruption because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nguyen filed the first loan application in April 2020 and the second in June 2020. In both, he certified he was not involved in any unlawful activity even though he knew his marijuana distribution business was illegal under federal law, according to prosecutors. He also purportedly lied about T&A Distribution’s gross revenues, cost of operations and employee count.
In the first application, Nguyen claimed T&A Distribution was a nonprofit in the business of “antiques/collectibles,” and in the second, he misrepresented T&A Distribution as a nonprofit in the business of “miscellaneous services,” prosecutors said.
Nguyen ultimately received about $300,000 in EIDL funds, which he largely used for his marijuana distribution business and for gambling, according to prosecutors.
In addition to a 37-month prison term, Nguyen was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay $300,000 in restitution, prosecutors said. Nguyen will begin serving his sentence on Feb. 28.