Andrew Hollins, also known as Andrew Jones, has been sentenced to 62 months in prison following his guilty pleas to charges of narcotics trafficking, wire fraud, and money laundering. The sentencing took place on January 31, 2024, in the United States District Court in Burlington. Chief U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss ordered Hollins to serve three years of supervised release after his prison term and pay $33,000 in restitution. His federal sentence will run concurrently with a 2 to 4-year sentence he is currently serving in New York State for two gun charges.
In December 2022, a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against Hollins for distributing cocaine on three occasions in late 2019. Additionally, the grand jury charged him with fraud, money laundering, and identity theft related to Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications submitted during July and August 2020. These loans are intended to assist businesses and individuals facing financial hardship due to natural disasters like the Coronavirus pandemic.
The indictment revealed that Hollins applied for eight EIDL loans using various identities including his own name, two shell businesses he founded, two relatives' names, and three stolen identities. Some loan applications were approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), while others were rejected due to suspected fraud. Two loans were funded or partially funded totaling $33,000.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation division and Homeland Security Investigations.
Hollins was represented by Federal Public Defender Michael Desautels while Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples served as the prosecutor.