Person Who Helped Me With PPP Loan Arrested

Person Who Helped Me With PPP Loan Arrested

The person who helped you with your PPP loan just got arrested. You saw it on the news, or someone called to tell you, or you found out scrolling social media. Your first thought is that this is the beginning of a problem – that the investigation is just starting, that you have time to figure out what to do, that maybe you’re not involved at all. Here’s what nobody explains: your helper’s arrest didn’t happen because they got caught. It happened because they already cooperated. Federal agents don’t arrest cooperating witnesses on random Tuesday mornings. They arrest them after the cooperation is complete – after every client has been named, after every application has been documented, after the sealed indictments against other defendants have been prepared. By the time you hear about the arrest, your name has already been given to prosecutors. The arrest wasn’t the start of your problem. It was the scheduled conclusion of your helper’s cooperation phase.

Welcome to the Spodek Law Group resource on what happens when the person who helped you with your PPP loan gets arrested – and why the timing means something completely different from what you think. Our goal is to show you exactly how federal cooperation agreements work, because understanding the sequence of events changes everything about your situation. You think: “They just got arrested. The investigation is beginning. I have time to see how this develops.” The reality is the opposite. Federal cooperation happens BEFORE public arrests. Your helper was working with prosecutors for months before the arrest became news. They named every client. They explained every application. They provided every document. The arrest you’re hearing about is the end of their cooperation phase – not the beginning of your investigation.

That’s the reality Todd Spodek and the Spodek Law Group team explain to clients who call after seeing their helper arrested. The initial reaction is always the same: “But they just got arrested – how can I already be in trouble?” The answer is that federal cooperation timelines run backward from what people expect. Your helper didn’t get arrested and then decide to cooperate. They cooperated for months, named everyone they helped, and then the arrest was scheduled. By the time you saw the news, you had already been under investigation for months without knowing it.

The Arrest Happened AFTER the Cooperation

Heres the paradox that changes everything about your situation. You think your helper got arrested and THEN started cooperating. The timeline is backwards. In federal cases, cooperation happens BEFORE the public arrest. The arrest is the scheduled end of the cooperation phase – not the beginning.

Think about how federal cooperation works. Your helper got contacted by investigators. There lawyer told them to cooperate. They entered into a cooperation agreement – a formal arrangement where they provide “substantial assistance” in exchange for a lighter sentence.

That substantial assistance means naming other participants. It means identifying every client they helped with fraudulent applications. It means explaining exactly what each client knew and when they knew it. Your helper spent months providing this information – sitting in proffer sessions, going through client files, answering questions about you specificaly.

Only AFTER that cooperation was complete did the arrest happen. The arrest wasnt the start of anything. It was the scheduled conclusion of a cooperation phase that had been running for months.

By the time you heard about the arrest, prosecutors already had your name, your application, and your helpers statements about what you knew.

Coordinated 6AM Arrests Are By Design

Consider the 11-defendant Missouri conspiracy. Investigation complete Summer 2023. Sealed indictment February 2024. Defendants didnt know for months. Then – coordinated 6am arrests. All 11 simultaneously.

This wasnt chaos. This was choreography.

While you were sleeping, while you were going about your normal life, your helper had already given up everyone. The sealed indictments were prepared. The arrest teams were assigned. The 6am timing was chosen specificaly so defendants couldnt warn each other, couldnt coordinate stories, couldnt flee.

Your helpers arrest probly followed the same pattern. The investigation ran for months. The cooperation happened in secret. The sealed indictment was prepared. Then the arrest – made public only after everything else was already in place.

The arrest you heard about was the last step, not the first.

First Cooperator Wins – That’s Why They’re Arrested Now

Simple truth. No exceptions. The first person to cooperate gets the best deal.

Your helper went first. Thats why there arrested now with a cooperation agreement already in place. There sentence will be reduced – sometimes by 46% or more – because they provided substantial assistance before anyone else.

You werent first. Your second. Or third. Or eleventh. Every position after first is worse.

The federal sentencing guidelines reward cooperation under Section 5K1.1. A defendant who provides substantial assistance can get there sentence reduced dramaticaly. If guidelines say 78 months, cooperation credit might reduce it to 42 months. But that credit goes to the FIRST person who cooperates – because there information has the most value.

By the time your considering cooperation, your helper has already provided the information prosecutors needed. Your information is less valueable because its no longer new. Your deal will be worse – if you can get a deal at all.

This is why your helpers arrest matters so much. They already won the cooperation race. Your already behind.

21 People Charged From One Helper

Renetta Golden-Larimore prepared 43 fraudulent PPP applications. She was sentenced to 51 months. But heres the number that matters: 21 other persons were charged and convicted in connection with her fraud scheme.

Not just Golden-Larimore. Twenty-one clients.

In the Ian Patrick Jackson case from Atlanta, 12 defendants were charged total. Nine of them were the buisness owners – the clients who used his services. All nine pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial.

In Mitchell County Georgia, 21 individuals were indicted from a single helpers network. Each defendant recieved at least $20,833. Each defendant is now facing federal charges.

The pattern is consistent. When a helper goes down, there entire client list goes down with them. Not some clients. Not the biggest cases. Every client who participated in fraudulent applications becomes a target.

Your helper is arrested. You used there services. You are part of that client list.

Your Helper Was Asked About YOU

Heres the information flow that nobody explains. You think your helper revealed secret information to investigators. In reality, investigators already had your records. They showed YOUR documents to your helper and asked for confirmation.

“Did this client provide these payroll numbers, or did you create them?”

“Did this client know the application was inflated?”

“What did this client tell you about there actual buisness income?”

“How much did this client pay you for your services?”

Your helper didnt reveal hidden secrets. They confirmed what investigators already suspected. The bank records were already subpoenaed. The tax returns were already pulled. The PPP application with your signature was already in the file. Your helper just provided the context – the testimony that connects you to knowing participation in fraud.

Every answer your helper gave either confirmed your involvement or contradicted the documentary evidence. Either way, prosecutors now have testimony linking you to the fraud.

Cooperators Are Sentenced Last – After Testifying Against You

Theres a timing element that reveals exactly how this works. Daisha Sanders pleaded guilty in November 2024. Her sentencing was postponed.

Why postponed? Because cooperators are sentenced LAST – after they testify against others.

Your helpers sentencing depends on how useful they are at prosecuting YOU. The more information they provide, the more testimony they give, the more clients they help convict – the bigger there sentence reduction. There not being sentenced until that work is done.

This creates a masive incentive. Your helper isnt just hoping prosecutors find there cooperation helpfull. There activly working to build cases against every client they helped. There going through files. There identifying discrepencies. There preparing to testify.

There sentence literally depends on convicting you. And there sentencing wont happen until that job is complete.

The Sealed Indictment May Already Exist

Heres the uncomfortable reality about where you stand right now. A sealed indictment may already exist with your name on it.

Federal prosecutors can obtain indictments under seal – meaning the charges exist but arent made public. The defendant dosent know. The media dosent report it. Life continues normaly – until the arrest.

Your helpers cooperation led to sealed indictments. Thats what the 6am coordinated arrests reveal. The paperwork was done weeks or months before anyone was arrested. The charges existed in secret while defendants went about there lives.

You might already be indicted. You might already be charged. The only reason you dont know is that the indictment remains sealed until prosecutors are ready to execute arrests.

This is why waiting to “see what happens” is so dangerous. By the time you see what happens, the sealed indictment becomes public when federal agents show up at your door.

The 60-Day Window Before Grand Jury

You have 60 – maybe 75 if lucky – days to intervene with counsel before the grand jury meets. After indictment, your negotiating from complete weakness.

Your helpers arrest is the warning sign. The investigation is active. Prosecutors are building cases against clients. The grand jury will consider charges.

Before indictment, you have options. You can present your side. You can cooperate. You can negotiate. You can potentialy avoid charges entirely if you can demonstrate you didnt knowingly participate in fraud.

After indictment, those options disappear. Your negotiating over plea terms, not wheather to charge. Your arguing about sentence length, not innocence.

The 60-day window started when your helper started cooperating – months before the arrest. By the time you hear about the arrest, much of that window has already closed. Whatever time remains is measured in weeks, not months.

What Your Helper Traded for Sentence Reduction

Under Section 5K1.1 of the federal sentencing guidelines, defendants who provide “substantial assistance” can have there sentences reduced dramaticaly. But the government controls the motion. Only prosecutors can ask the judge to reduce a sentence for cooperation.

To get that motion filed, your helper had to provide information that helps prosecute OTHER people. That means you.

They provided your name. They explained your application. They testified about what you told them, what you paid them, what you knew about the fraud. They pointed to documents. They identified discrepencies between your tax returns and your PPP claims.

Every piece of information they provided reduced there sentence – and built the case against you.

This wasnt betrayal for its own sake. It was survival. Your helper faced years in federal prison. The only way to reduce that sentence was to help prosecutors build cases against everyone they helped. So they did. Every client. Every file. Every conversation.

Your helper traded your name for sentence reduction. Its already done. The only question now is how you respond.

The Blueacorn Example – How Helper Networks Collapse

Stephanie Hockridge co-founded Blueacorn in 2020, supposedly to help small buisnesses navigate PPP applications. Her “VIPPP” service recruited referral agents to coach borrowers on submitting applications. She and her partners charged kickbacks based on a percentage of funds recieved.

She got 10 years in federal prison. But heres the part that matters to you: every client who used her service became a target.

When Blueacorn collapsed, investigators didnt just charge Hockridge. They went through every application her network touched. Every client file. Every payment record. Every text message between agents and borrowers.

Your helper might not be Blueacorn-level. They might have only helped 5 or 10 people. But the pattern is identical. When the helper goes down, the client list goes down with them. The helper has every incentive to name everyone – because naming you reduces there sentence.

And just like Blueacorn, your helpers cooperation is happening in private. The proffer sessions. The document reviews. The detailed explanations of what each client knew. By the time the arrest becomes public, that work is finished. Your name has already been in federal hands for months.

The Proffer Session You Didnt Know About

Heres what happened before the arrest you saw on the news. Your helper sat down with there attorney and a federal prosecutor. They signed a proffer agreement – a “queen for a day” letter that protects them from having there own statements used against them directly.

Then the questions started.

“Walk us through how you prepared applications.”

“Which clients provided real documentation versus which ones you created numbers for?”

“What did [YOUR NAME] tell you about there actual buisness income?”

“How much did [YOUR NAME] pay you for your services?”

“Did [YOUR NAME] review the application before signing?”

Every answer your helper gave either confirmed your involvement or contradicted what investigators already suspected. The bank records were already subpoenaed. The tax returns were already pulled. Your helpers job was to provide context – the testimony that connects documents to knowing participation.

These proffer sessions happen over multiple meetings. Your helper went through there entire client list. They explained every application. They identified every discrepency between what clients told them and what appeared on applications.

By the time the arrest happened, prosecutors had detailed testimony about you specificaly. Not just your name on a list. Detailed testimony about what you said, what you paid, what you knew.

What to Do When Your Helper Is Already Arrested

At Spodek Law Group, Todd Spodek and the federal defense team handle exactly this situation. Clients call after seeing there helper arrested, wondering what it means for them. Heres the advice we give.

First, understand that the arrest isnt the beginning – its the reveal of an investigation thats been running for months. Your helper has already cooperated. Your name has already been provided. Sealed indictments may already exist. Dont waste time thinking you have months to decide what to do.

Second, dont contact your helper. Any communication now can be characterized as witness tampering or obstruction. Your helper is activly cooperating with prosecutors. Anything you say to them goes directly into the case file. Keep your distance.

Third, dont talk to anyone else about this. Not friends. Not family. Not other people who used the same helper. Anyone you talk to can be called as a witness. Coordinating with other potential defendants creates additional conspiracy charges.

Fourth, gather your records immediatly. Find your PPP application if you have a copy. Find your tax returns from 2019 and 2020. Compare the numbers. You need to know wheather your application contained false information before you decide how to respond.

Fifth, consult a federal defense attorney now. Not next week. Today. The window for meaningful action is closing. An attorney can assess your exposure, determine wheather sealed charges might exist, and advise on wheather early cooperation makes sense.

If the person who helped you with your PPP loan has been arrested, call Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196. The consultation is confidential. We can help you understand where you are in the investigation timeline, what your helper has probly already told prosecutors, and what options remain while you still have options.

Your helpers arrest wasnt the start of your problem. It was the announcement that your problem has been building for months. The cooperation is complete. The information is provided. The sealed indictments may already be prepared. The only question now is wheather you act while theres still time to act – or wheather you wait for the 6am knock that tells you the decision has already been made.

The arrest you heard about was the end of your helpers cooperation phase. Your investigation phase is just reaching its conclusion. What happens next depends on what you do in the next days and weeks – not months. That window is closing faster then you realize.

Think about the timeline again. Your helper got contacted by investigators – probly 6 to 12 months ago. They entered a cooperation agreement. They spent months going through files, naming clients, explaining applications. The sealed indictments were prepared. The arrest was scheduled. And now, finaly, you hear about it.

Every day between when your helper started cooperating and when you take action is a day prosecutors had your name while you did nothing. Every day you wait now is a day the sealed indictment sits with your name on it while you scroll social media wondering if your next.

Your next. The only question is wheather you respond before the knock – or after.