COVID fraudster sentenced to more than 16 years for scheming federal government out of more than $16 million

An Arkansas man who conspired with businesspeople in Eastern Washington to defraud the federal government of $16.3 million in COVID relief funds received a 16-year sentence Thursday in Spokane.

Tyler Andrews, 39, also was ordered by U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice on Thursday to pay $16.3 million in restitution and forfeit $4.3 million in what is so far the largest COVID fraud prosecution in Eastern Washington.

While out on bail following his arrest two years ago, Andrews allegedly attempted to receive a passport under a fake identity and flee to Greece – falsely claiming he needed to visit his dying father.

His defense attorney, Katryna Spearman, acknowledged in court this was a “boneheaded move.”

Speaking in his own defense, Andrews said he had a “profound sense of remorse” over his actions. He claimed his history of fraud stemmed from drug use from a young age and being sexually abused as a child.

“I’m not a bad person. I get high and the drugs cloud my judgment of the consequences of my actions,” he said at the hearing.

Andrews will spend approximately a year in prison for each million dollars he defrauded the government. He will start his sentence at the Federal Medical Center in Kentucky, where he will receive treatment for cancer and HIV.

From 2020 to 2022, Andrews and his co-conspirators filed for dozens of CARES Act loans meant to sustain small businesses during the pandemic. The businesses they named were typically defunct or nonexistent, but collectively received $16.3 million as the federal government tried to quickly get money to businesses in hopes of preventing permanent closures and employee disruptions during the pandemic shutdowns.

For many of these applications, Andrews enlisted individuals in Eastern Washington for personal information to take out these fraudulent loans. Andrews would then take a commission of the conspirators’ ill-gotten gains. Though an Arkansas resident, many of the fake businesses Andrews filed fraudulent COVID relief applications for were supposedly located in Spokane.

The case include the largest monetary amount of COVID fraud prosecuted by Eastern Washington’s COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force. U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref said in a statement the task force will continue to hold fraudsters accountable.

“Mr. Andrews developed a fraudulent scheme to assist and advise others on how to lie and cheat in order to obtain millions in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds – funds that were supposed to help small and local businesses that were struggling to stay afloat during a global crisis. He then took a percentage off the top of the over 13 million dollars fraudulently obtained through his scheme,” she said.