A Brentwood resident, Thanh Duy Nguyen, has been sentenced to 37 months in prison for defrauding the United States by securing approximately $300,000 in COVID-19 relief funds. The funds were obtained under the pretense of operating a nonprofit organization, which was actually an unlicensed marijuana distribution business. U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin delivered the sentence following Nguyen's guilty plea on two counts of wire fraud.
Court documents reveal that Nguyen, 53, managed T&A Distribution, an unlicensed interstate marijuana trafficking operation with grow houses located around the Bay Area. He utilized this entity to apply for two Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), designed to support small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his initial application submitted in April 2020, Nguyen falsely claimed he was not involved in any illegal activities as per federal law and misrepresented T&A Distribution as a nonprofit dealing in "Antiques/Collectibles." Despite knowing that his business was illegal under federal law, he provided inaccurate information about gross revenue and employee numbers. The actual gross revenue for T&A Distribution in the year leading up to January 31, 2020, was around $2.4 million.
Nguyen repeated these falsehoods in a second EIDL application filed in June 2020, again claiming no engagement in illegal activities and describing his business as offering "Miscellaneous Services." This led to him obtaining roughly $300,000 in EIDL funds, which he partially used for his marijuana operations and gambling activities.
Besides imprisonment, Judge Lin ordered Nguyen to serve three years of supervised release and pay $300,000 each in restitution and forfeiture. His sentence will commence on February 28, 2025.
The announcement came from United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey alongside DEA Special Agent Bob P. Beris and SBA OIG Special Agent Weston King. This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation aimed at dismantling high-level criminal networks through collaborative efforts across various law enforcement agencies.
Assistant United States Attorney Joseph Tartakovsky prosecuted with assistance from Sara Slattery following investigations by DEA and SBA OIG.