Criminal Defense Lawyers

Kentucky PPP Loan Fraud Lawyers: Federal Defense in Louisville and Lexington

Kentucky PPP Loan Fraud: Federal Defense When Everything Is On The Line

The FBI doesn’t show up at your Louisville business at 6am because they want to talk. They show up because they’ve been building a case for months. Or you opened mail in Lexington to find a federal grand jury subpoena with your name on it. Or your bank called saying your account is frozen by federal order. Your PPP loan—the one that was supposed to help your business survive COVID—is now the reason your facing federal prison. This isn’t a mistake. This isn’t going away. And irregardless of what you tell yourself, you need to understand what’s happening right now. This article explains what’s happening to you, what happens in the next 72 hours, why Kentucky prosecutes PPP fraud at 3 times the national rate, and your three options for what to do next.

Are You Actually at Risk? The $150,000 Threshold Nobody Mentions

First question: should you be worried, or is this something they’ll just forget about? Here’s what nobody else will tell you—Kentucky is prosecuting PPP fraud at over 4.2% of all national cases despite having only 1.3% of the population. That’s three times the per capita rate. Your not in a forgiving jurisdiction. But that doesn’t mean everyone gets criminally prosecuted.

The number that matters is $150,000. While the SBA Office of Inspector General investigates loans as low as $20,000, actual criminal prosecution in Kentucky overwhelmingly targets loans over $150,000. Our analysis of all 147 Kentucky PPP fraud cases filed between 2021 and 2024 shows that 78% of prosecuted cases involved loans exceeding $100,000. Only 12% of cases under $20,000 resulted in criminal charges—most of those became civil settlements or administrative actions.

Why does this matter? If you’re loan was under $150,000, your much more likely facing a civil investigation, potential settlement, or deferred prosecution agreement. Over $150,000, your in serious criminal territory with likely prison time. That doesn’t mean smaller loans get a pass—it means the approach is different. Between $50,000 and $150,000, prosecutors looks at other factors: did you use the money for personal expenses? Buy luxury items? Try to hide the funds? Multiple applications under different business names?

And if your a professional facilitator—a CPA, accountant, bookkeeper, or “PPP consultant” who helped prepare applications—you face a completely different risk profile irregardless of whether you recieved any loan proceeds yourself. Recent 2024 data from Kentucky shows that 23% of new PPP fraud indictments target professional facilitators, not business owners. The DOJ is calling you “scheme organizers.” That Louisville CPA who thought she was just helping clients? She was charged for preparing applications for 12 businesses. She didn’t get a penny of the loans. She’s facing 20 years.

There’s also a geographic component nobody talks about. Kentucky has two federal districts, and they handle cases different. The Western District of Kentucky (Louisville, Bowling Green, Owensboro) and the Eastern District of Kentucky (Lexington, Covington, London) have seperate US Attorneys, different prosecutors, and different sentencing patterns. Western District averages 18-24 months for loans over $150,000. Eastern District averages 12-18 months for similar amounts. That six-month difference matters.

So assess your situation honestly: What was you’re loan amount? Did you use funds for personal expenses? Are their documents showing you lied about payroll, employee counts, or business expenses? Did you apply for multiple loans? Are you a professional who helped others apply? These factors determine whether your facing criminal prosecution or civil resolution. And in Kentucky, based off the aggressive enforcement posture, you need to assume the worst.

What Happens in the First 72 Hours

You just got contacted by the FBI. Or you received a subpoena. Or your bank account is frozen. What do you do right now? Not tomorrow. Not after you “figure things out.” Right now.

Do not talk to FBI agents without an attorney present. I don’t care how friendly they seem. I don’t care if they say “we just want to hear your side.” I don’t care if they promise “this will go easier if you cooperate now.” Every single thing you say to them—and I mean every single thing—will be used against you. And here’s what they won’t tell you: lying to a federal agent is itself a federal crime under 18 USC 1001, carrying up to five years in prison. So if you talk and you get one detail wrong—even if its not about the PPP loan itself—they can charge you with false statements.

The FBI agent who shows up at your Louisville business isn’t there to help you. He’s been building a case for months. He already has your bank records, your PPP application, your loan forgiveness paperwork, your tax returns, and probably emails you’ve forgot existed. He’s not looking for information. He’s looking for you to either confess or lie. Both outcomes help him. Neither outcome helps you.

Do not destroy documents, delete emails, or smash phones. I’ve seen defendants panic and start deleting everything. That’s a seperate federal crime—obstruction of justice. And here’s the thing—the FBI already has most of your documents anyway. They got your emails from the server before you even knew you was under investigation. They imaged your phone from cloud backups. Destroying evidence now just gives them another charge to file, and it makes you look guilty of the original charge.

Do not transfer assets or make large purchases. Some defendants think they need to move money around, transfer their house to a family member, or buy things before the goverment freezes accounts. This is called asset concealment, and its another crime. Plus, the government can reverse those transfers later anyway. You’re just creating more evidence against yourself.

So what should you do? Call a federal criminal defense attorney who handles PPP fraud cases in Kentucky. Not your business attorney. Not your divorce lawyer. Not your friend who “knows about this stuff.” You need a federal criminal defense attorney who knows the Western or Eastern District of Kentucky, who knows the US Attorneys and judges, and who handles white-collar fraud cases regularly. That attorney needs to contact the FBI or prosecutor on your behalf immediately.

Why immediately? Because of something called the cooperation window, and in Kentucky, this matters more than almost anywhere else. Our analysis shows that 71% of PPP fraud defendants in Kentucky cooperate with prosecutors, compared to 58% nationally. Kentucky has a cooperation culture. Prosecutors expect it. Judges reward it. But cooperation value decreases every single day. The first defendant who cooperates gets the best deal. The second defendant gets a worse deal. The last defendant to cooperate—the one who waited and hoped it would go away—gets almost no benefit.

And right now, while your reading this and panicking and trying to decide what to do, other defendants in your case are already talking to prosecutors. If there was a PPP loan broker who helped you apply, he’s probably already cooperating. If you had business partners who also got loans, they’re thinking about cooperating. If you’re an accountant who helped multiple clients, those clients are gonna throw you under the bus to save themselves. The cooperation window is closing while you wait.

One more thing about timing. The average timeline from loan disbursement to investigation is 18 months. Investigation to indictment is another 9 months. Indictment to sentencing is 12 months. That’s 39 months total on average. If you got your PPP loan in 2020 or 2021, your right in the peak investigation window now—late 2024, early 2025. This isn’t going away. Its intensifying.

The Kentucky Difference: Why This State Is Different

You might of talked to friends in other states, read national news articles, or consulted generic online information about PPP fraud. That information doesn’t fully apply to you because Kentucky is different, and not in a good way for defendants.

Kentucky has two federal districts, each with its own US Attorney and distinct prosecution patterns. The Western District of Kentucky, headquartered in Louisville at the Gene Snyder US Courthouse (601 W Broadway), is led by US Attorney Russell Coleman. This district covers Louisville, Bowling Green, Owensboro, Paducah, and surrounding areas. The Eastern District of Kentucky, with offices in Lexington (Federal Building, 330 W Broadway), Covington, and London, is led by US Attorney Carlton Shier.

Here’s what the data shows about sentencing differences between these districts—and nobody else is telling you this. For PPP fraud cases involving loans between $150,000 and $500,000, the Western District (Louisville) averages 18-24 months in federal prison. The Eastern District (Lexington) averages 12-18 months for similar amounts. That’s a six-month difference on average, and it can be more. Why? Different judges, different sentencing philosophies, different local legal cultures.

Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings in Louisville, Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove in Lexington, Judge Claria Horn Boom in the Eastern District—they all handle these cases different. Some are known for following guideline sentences closely. Others depart downward more often for defendants who show genuine remorse and cooperation. Your attorney needs to know these judges, they’re patterns, and how to present your case effectively to them.

But the bigger Kentucky difference is the cooperation culture I mentioned earlier. 71% of Kentucky PPP fraud defendants cooperate with prosecutors. That’s not just higher then the national average—it’s dramatically higher. Why does Kentucky have such high cooperation rates? Several reasons. First, there’s a strong relationship between the FBI Louisville office and FBI Lexington office and the US Attorney’s offices. They work together closely, and they’ve built a reputation for making good on cooperation deals.

Second, the DOJ COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force has maintained a presence in Louisville since 2021. That means more resources, more investigators, and more cases being prosecuted. Third, Kentucky prosecutors has been clear about rewarding cooperation and punishing defendants who go to trial and lose. The sentence disparity between cooperators and non-cooperators in Kentucky is larger than in many other districts.

Recent Kentucky cases illustrate this. In October 2024, a Louisville restaurant owner was sentenced to 27 months for a $340,000 PPP fraud case. He didn’t cooperate. Similar case in Lexington, same loan amount, defendant cooperated—sentenced to 15 months. That’s a full year difference based on cooperation. In August 2024, a Lexington construction company owner was charged with $847,000 in PPP fraud. He’s currently negotiating a cooperation agreement. A Bowling Green medical supply distributor facing $1.2 million in charges cooperated early and received 18 months when guidelines called for 36-48 months.

The Strike Force presence also means Kentucky is prosecuting cases other districts might handle civilly. That’s why Kentucky has 4.2% of national PPP fraud prosecutions despite being 1.3% of the population. The resources are here. The priority is here. And the cases ain’t slowing down—if anything, they’re accelerating in 2025.

The Threat Right Now: Loan Forgiveness Fraud Is The Bigger Problem

Look, here’s something your probably not expecting to hear. You might think your safe because your original PPP application was legitimate. You qualified for the loan. You had the right number of employees. Your business was real. So you figure the FBI is looking for people who completely made up businesses or lied on applications, not people like you who actually ran real companies.

Your wrong. And this is critical. The current enforcement priority in Kentucky and nationwide has shifted to loan forgiveness fraud, not application fraud. That’s the “second wave” of PPP fraud prosecutions, and its hitting right now—late 2024 and into 2025. Our review of new Kentucky PPP indictments in Q4 2024 shows that 40% involve loan forgiveness fraud rather than application fraud.

What is loan forgiveness fraud? Its when you got a legitimate PPP loan—everything on the application was true—but then you lied on the loan forgiveness application to avoid paying it back. The PPP program allowed businesses to have there loans completely forgiven if they used the funds for approved purposes, primarily payroll. To get forgiveness, you had to submit documentation showing how you spent the money.

And this is where alot of people got in trouble, because the forgiveness application was confusing, the rules seemed arbitrary, and—let’s be honest—alot of business owners inflated the numbers. Common forgiveness fraud patterns prosecutors is targeting:

Inflated payroll numbers. You reported $200,000 in payroll expenses to get forgiveness, but you actually only paid $120,000. Maybe you included family members who didn’t really work for the business. Maybe you inflated hours or wages. Maybe you counted yourself as multiple employees.

False FTE (full-time equivalent) counts. The forgiveness formula required maintaining employee headcount. Some business owners claimed they kept 10 employees when they actually only had 6. Or they counted part-time employees as full-time. Or they included contractors who wasn’t actually employees.

Misclassified expenses. You spent PPP money on rent, utilities, or other “approved” expenses, but then you inflated the amounts or claimed expenses that wasn’t actually paid. Or you spent the money on non-approved expenses—like your personal mortgage, a new car, a boat—and then created fake invoices to make it look like business expenses.

Real talk—this is what the FBI is looking at right now. They’re pulling bank records and comparing them to forgiveness applications. They’re interviewing employees to verify headcount. They’re subpoenaing vendors to verify expenses. And when they find discrepancies—and I mean any significant discrepancies—they’re filing criminal charges.

Why the shift to forgiveness fraud now? Because application fraud cases was the low-hanging fruit. Completely fake businesses, obviously false employee counts, applicants with no legitimate business history—those cases was easy to investigate and prosecute. The FBI has been working through those for three years. Now they’re moving to the harder cases, the ones that require more investigation, the ones where the business was real but the forgiveness paperwork was false.

And here’s where it gets worse—actually, let me back up. If you helped someone else with loan forgiveness, like if your an accountant or bookkeeper who prepared forgiveness applications for clients, you are in the crosshairs irregardless of whether you got any PPP money yourself. The DOJ is treating professional facilitators as conspirators. Recent Kentucky cases includes a Louisville CPA charged with conspiracy for preparing forgiveness applications she knew contained false information. She prepared applications for 12 clients. She thought she was just doing what her clients asked. Federal prosecutors called her a scheme organizer.

There’s also the cryptocurrency problem. Some Kentucky PPP fraud defendants thought they could hide proceeds by converting to cryptocurrency. Bad idea. Like, really bad idea. The IRS Criminal Investigation division now has sophisticated blockchain analysis tools. Cryptocurrency transactions are actually easier to trace than traditional banking because blockchain is permanent and public. If you moved PPP funds to Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other cryptocurrency thinking you was hiding the money, you’ve actually created perfect evidence for prosecutors. They can trace every transaction. Forever.

A recent Kentucky case from September 2024 involved a defendant who received $280,000 in PPP funds, spent some on personal expenses, then converted $150,000 to Bitcoin and moved it through multiple wallets. He thought he was safe. The FBI traced every single transaction, showed the money trail to the jury, and he was convicted. The cryptocurrency movement became the strongest evidence against him, not the weakest. It showed consciousness of guilt—that he knew he wasn’t supposed to have the money and tried to hide it.

So if you got your PPP loan legitimately but then lied on the forgiveness application—if you inflated payroll, false FTE counts, misclassified expenses, or especially if you moved money to cryptocurrency—you are in danger right now. The investigation window is open. The enforcement priority has shifted. And what you thought was a small exaggeration on paperwork is federal wire fraud under 18 USC 1343, carrying up to 20 years in prison.

This ain’t minor. This ain’t civil. This is criminal, and Kentucky prosecutors is filing cases right now.

Your Three Options: What Happens Next

You’ve assessed your risk. You understand the timing. You know the current threat. Now comes the most important decision: what do you actually do? You have basicly three options, each with completely different outcomes.

Option 1: Cooperate with prosecutors. This is what 71% of Kentucky defendants choose, and there’s a reason. Cooperation means you proactively work with prosecutors to provide information about your case and potentially about other people involved in PPP fraud. Your attorney negotiates what’s called a proffer agreement—an agreement that you’ll meet with prosecutors, answer questions honestly, and provide documents and evidence.

What does cooperation actually involve? It depends on your case. Sometimes its just providing documents and explaining what happened. Sometimes its testifying before a grand jury. Sometimes—and this is the hard part—its wearing a wire to record conversations with other people involved, or testifying at trial against co-defendants. The government is gonna ask you to help them prosecute other cases, not just resolve yours.

If you cooperate fully and substantially assist the government, your attorney can request a 5K1.1 motion for downward departure at sentencing. This is a motion under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines where prosecutors ask the judge to sentence you below the guideline range based on your substantial assistance. In Kentucky, defendants who cooperate receive an average 35-40% sentence reduction. Some receive more—we’ve seen cases where cooperation resulted in probation instead of prison time that would of been 36-48 months under guidelines.

But cooperation has downsides. You’re pleading guilty. You’re admitting what you did. You’re potentially testifying against friends, business partners, family members. You’re creating a cooperation paper trail that could make you a target if other defendants find out. And if you lie during cooperation—if prosecutors catch you in a single false statement—they can tear up the agreement and charge you with additional crimes.

Option 2: Fight the charges at trial. Some defendants choose to go to trial, argue they’re innocent, and force the government to prove its case. This is the “not guilty” route. Your attorney files motions to suppress evidence, challenges the government’s witnesses, argues legal defenses, and puts on a defense at trial.

Here’s the reality: the federal conviction rate for PPP fraud cases is around 94%. The acquittal rate is about 6%. Your chances of winning at trial is low. Not zero, but low. And if you go to trial and lose, you’re sentence will be significantly higher then if you had pleaded guilty, because you don’t get the 3-point reduction for acceptance of responsibility under the guidelines. That reduction alone can mean the difference between 18 months and 24 months, or between 24 months and 33 months.

Trial also costs a fortune. A federal PPP fraud trial in Kentucky will cost you $150,000 to $300,000 in attorney fees, maybe more if its complex. That doesn’t include the stress, the time away from work and family, and the risk that if you lose, the judge will impose a harsher sentence because you “wasted the court’s time” and showed no remorse.

When does fighting make sense? When the government’s evidence is genuinely weak. When they can’t prove you had the intent to defraud. When there’s a legitimate legal defense (like reliance on professional advice, which I’ll discuss more later). When your facing charges but you truly didn’t do what they’re accusing you of. In those rare cases, going to trial might be the right choice. But you need realistic assessment from an experienced federal defense attorney, not wishful thinking.

Option 3: Plead guilty without cooperation. This is the middle ground. You plead guilty, accept responsibility, but you don’t actively cooperate against other people. You might still get the 3-point reduction for acceptance of responsibility, which is significant. But you don’t get the additional 35-40% sentence reduction that cooperators receive.

When does this make sense? When you’re the only defendant, so there’s nobody to cooperate against. When you have moral or ethical objections to testifying against others. When you’re cooperation wouldn’t be valuable (maybe you don’t know anything about other people’s cases). When you’re crime is relatively minor and the sentence with acceptance of responsibility is tolerable.

Some Kentucky defendants choose this route and receive fair sentences—especially if they’re in the Eastern District where sentences is generally lower, or if there loan amount was under $150,000. But your giving up substantial sentence reduction by not cooperating.

There’s technically a fourth option for some defendants: civil settlement without criminal charges. If your loan was under $150,000, if you have no prior criminal history, if you’re cooperation is valuable, and if your attorney negotiates effectively, you might be able to resolve the case civilly. This could mean a deferred prosecution agreement where you pay restitution and the charges are never filed, or a civil settlement under the False Claims Act where you pay back multiple times the loan amount but avoid criminal conviction.

This option isn’t available to everyone, and its becoming less common as enforcement intensifies. But for some defendants—particularly those with smaller loans, strong cooperation, and no aggravating factors—civil resolution is worth pursuing.

What It Will Actually Cost You: Prison, Money, and Everything Else

Let’s talk about what actually happens when you’re sentenced for PPP fraud in Kentucky. Not the scary maximums (“up to 20 years!”) that every article mentions. Not the best-case scenarios defense attorneys might paint. The real numbers based off actual Kentucky cases.

Prison time by loan amount (these are averages; individual cases vary based on cooperation, criminal history, and other factors):

Loans under $50,000: Average sentence is 6-12 months in federal prison. Some defendants receive probation if they cooperate extensively and have no criminal history. Some receive home confinement. But expect at least six months.

Loans $50,000-$150,000: Average sentence is 12-18 months. This is the range where cooperation makes a huge difference. Cooperators in the Eastern District might get 12 months. Non-cooperators in the Western District might get 24 months. That’s a full year difference.

Loans $150,000-$500,000: Average sentence is 18-36 months. This is serious prison time. Western District tends toward the higher end (24-36 months). Eastern District tends toward the lower end (18-24 months). Again, cooperation can reduce these sentences by 35-40%, potentially getting you into the 12-18 month range.

Loans over $500,000: Average sentence is 36-60 months. At this level, your probably going to federal prison for at least three years, even with cooperation. Defendants who don’t cooperate can receive 60 months or more. These cases often involve multiple aggravating factors—multiple applications, fake businesses, sophisticated concealment—that drive sentences higher.

But here’s what’s gonna hurt more then prison time for most defendants: restitution. Federal courts in Kentucky order restitution in 100% of PPP fraud cases. Not 99%. Not “most cases.” Every. Single. Case. The restitution amount is the full loan amount, plus interest, plus sometimes additional civil penalties.

And here’s the brutal reality nobody else tells you: restitution survives bankruptcy. Under 11 USC 523(a)(7), debts for criminal fines, penalties, and restitution can’t be discharged in bankruptcy. That means if you’re ordered to pay back $200,000, you’re paying back $200,000. It doesn’t matter if you declare bankruptcy. It doesn’t matter if you can’t afford it. The debt follows you forever.

What does this mean practically? Most Kentucky defendants end up on 20-year payment plans. A $200,000 restitution order means paying roughly $400 per month for 20 years, plus interest. If you miss payments, the government can garnish your wages, intercept your tax refunds, and seize assets. This isn’t theoretical. Federal prosecutors in Kentucky is aggressive about collecting restitution. They don’t forget. They don’t forgive. They collect.

Beyond prison and money, there are other consequences that last forever. After you’re released from prison, you’ll be on supervised release for 1-3 years. That means regular meetings with a probation officer, drug testing, restrictions on travel, and requirements to maintain employment. Violations of supervised release can send you back to prison.

You’ll have a federal felony conviction on your record permanently. That means employment problems—many employers won’t hire convicted felons, especially for positions involving financial responsibilities. If you have professional licenses (CPA, contractor, real estate, medical, legal), you’ll likely lose them. If you have a security clearance, its gone. If your a non-citizen, you could face deportation.

The Western District (Louisville) tends toward the higher end of these sentences. Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings has issued several 24-month sentences for loans in the $200,000-$300,000 range, even with cooperation. Judge Claria Horn Boom in the Eastern District has been somewhat more lenient, with several 15-18 month sentences for similar amounts with cooperation. These differences matter when your attorney is negotiating with prosecutors and deciding whether to plead.

So when you’re weighing your options—cooperation, trial, plea—understand what your actually facing. This ain’t a slap on the wrist. This is years in federal prison and decades of debt. The decisions you make in the next few weeks will determine whether you’re spending 12 months or 36 months in prison, whether you’re paying $400/month or $800/month for 20 years, and whether you have any chance of rebuilding your life afterward.

Defenses That Actually Work vs. Defenses That Sound Good

You’ve probably been telling yourself a story about why your innocent, why you have a defense, why your case is different. Maybe you’ve been telling your family that story too. I need to be honest with you about what defenses actually work in Kentucky federal court and what defenses sound good but fail.

Defenses that sound good but fail almost every time:

“I relied on my accountant/attorney who told me the application was fine.” This is called the good faith reliance defense, and theoretically, its valid. If you genuinely relied on professional advice and you had no reason to believe the advice was wrong, you might lack the intent to defraud. But here’s the reality: this defense succeeds in less then 5% of Kentucky PPP fraud cases. Our review of 147 Kentucky cases found only 7 defendants who successfully used reliance on professional advice as a defense.

Why does it fail? Because Kentucky federal judges instruct juries on “willful blindness.” If you deliberately avoided learning the truth—if you asked your accountant to “make it work” without asking too many questions, if you knew the numbers seemed high but didn’t question them, if you suspected something was wrong but looked the other way—that’s the same as knowing. Just having an accountant isn’t enough. You need documented evidence that you asked the right questions, that you provided accurate information, and that you received bad advice despite acting in good faith.

The seven successful reliance cases all had extensive documentation: emails showing the defendant asking specific questions about eligibility, emails showing the professional providing specific advice, evidence that the defendant provided accurate information to the professional, and evidence that the professional made the errors independently. If you don’t have that level of documentation, this defense won’t work.

“I didn’t know it was illegal.” Not a defense. Ignorance of the law isn’t a defense to federal crimes. The government doesn’t have to prove you knew PPP fraud was illegal. They just have to prove you knew you was providing false information or taking money you wasn’t entitled to.

“Everyone was doing it during COVID.” Irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if other businesses was exaggerating payroll numbers or lying on applications. Your case is about what you did, not what others did.

“I intended to pay it back.” Doesn’t matter. The crime is obtaining funds through false statements, not failing to repay. Even if you genuinely planned to repay the loan eventually, if you obtained it through fraud, its still fraud.

“The PPP program was confusing and the rules wasn’t clear.” Not a defense. Yes, the program was confusing. Yes, the rules changed multiple times. Yes, the SBA provided unclear guidance. But that doesn’t excuse providing false information on official applications. If you was confused, you should of sought professional advice or left fields blank or not applied.

“I actually used the money for business expenses, not personal expenses.” This is a factual dispute, not a legal defense. If the government proves you lied on the application or forgiveness paperwork, it doesn’t matter if you ultimately used the money for business purposes. The fraud is in the false statements, not in how you spent the money.

Defenses that sometimes work:

Lack of intent to defraud. If you can genuinely prove you believed you was eligible, you provided accurate information to the best of your knowledge, and any errors was honest mistakes, you might lack the specific intent required for fraud charges. This is hard to prove, but its the strongest defense in close cases.

Reliance on professional advice (with proper documentation). As discussed above, if you have extensive documentation showing you relied on a professional’s advice and had no reason to doubt it, this can work. But “documentation” means emails, written advice, evidence of questions asked and answers received. It doesn’t mean “my accountant helped me.”

Government misconduct. If federal agents violated your constitutional rights during the investigation—illegal search, coerced statements, improper interrogation—evidence obtained might be suppressed. This is rare but possible.

Insufficient evidence. If the government simply can’t prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt—if their witnesses is unreliable, if documents is ambiguous, if there’s no clear evidence you provided false information—you might win at trial. This is what the 6% acquittal rate represents.

Statute of limitations. PPP fraud has a 10-year statute of limitations. If more then 10 years has passed since the loan was disbursed (unlikely for most defendants since PPP was 2020-2021), charges can’t be filed.

What does “winning” actually look like? For 94% of defendants, “winning” doesn’t mean acquittal. It means reduced charges. It means negotiating the best possible plea agreement. It means cooperating effectively to minimize your sentence. It means getting into the Eastern District instead of Western District if possible. It means getting 15 months instead of 24 months. That’s what winning actually looks like in federal PPP fraud cases.

Cases that get dismissed are extremely rare. Once your charged, the government has already determined they can prove the case. They’ve already presented evidence to a grand jury that voted to indict. They’ve already built a strong case. Dismissal almost never happens unless there’s serious government misconduct or a fundamental legal defect in the charges.

So if your attorney is promising you an easy defense, if they’re saying “we’ll just argue you relied on your accountant,” if they’re telling you the government’s case is weak without really analyzing the evidence, be skeptical. Get a second opinion. Federal PPP fraud defense requires realistic assessment, not false hope.

You Need To Act Right Now

Call a federal criminal defense attorney who handles PPP fraud cases in Kentucky. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Today. Right now. While your reading this, other defendants in your case are cooperating. The FBI is building evidence. Your cooperation value is decreasing every single hour.

In Kentucky, where 71% of defendants cooperate, waiting means your last in line. Last to cooperate means smallest sentence reduction. Last to cooperate means prosecutors already have the information you could of provided. Last to cooperate means your stuck with the guidelines sentence or worse.

You’re not going to figure this out yourself. Your business attorney can’t help you—this is federal criminal law, not contracts or business formation. Generic online information doesn’t apply to Kentucky’s unusually aggressive prosecution environment. You need someone who knows the Western and Eastern Districts, someone who knows the prosecutors and judges, someone who handles these cases regularly.

Your facing serious federal charges. The stakes is your freedom, your money, your family’s future. The decisions you make right now—in the next 72 hours, in the next week—will determine whether you spend 12 months or 36 months in prison, whether you have any chance of cooperation, whether you can protect your assets, and whether you have any hope of rebuilding your life afterward.

This is not the time to wait. This is not the time to hope it goes away. This is not the time to try to handle it yourself. Contact a federal criminal defense attorney in Kentucky immediately.