Overview
- Carmine G. Agnello was sentenced Monday to 15 months in federal prison, with $1,268,302 restitution, 100 hours of community service, two years of supervision, and required mental-health and gambling treatment.
- Prosecutors had asked for 33 to 41 months, yet Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury imposed the shorter term and ordered him to report on July 20.
- He pleaded guilty in September 2024 to wire fraud tied to at least three SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans, and prosecutors say he diverted about $420,000 into cryptocurrency.
- Defense lawyers sought probation based on his plan to donate a kidney to his mother, but the March 30 surgery was postponed and the judge proceeded with sentencing.
- The case fits a broader push to police COVID relief fraud, with the SBA watchdog estimating more than $200 billion in suspect loans, including roughly $136 billion linked to the EIDL program.