Houma Man Pleads Guilty to Making False Statements to Federal Agents

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today that DONDRE MORGAN, (“MORGAN”), age 32, of Houma, LA, pled guilty on May 28, 2024 to Making False Statements to Federal Agents, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(2).  MORGAN faces a maximum penalty of five (5) years, followed by a term of supervised release for up to three (3) years, a fine up to $250,000.00, or twice the gross gain to the defendant, or twice the gross loss to any victim, and a $100.00 mandatory special assessment fee.

According to court documents, on April 7, 2022, MORGAN made materially false statements to special agents with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Criminal Investigations Division.  Specifically, MORGAN lied about his involvement and participation in a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan fraud scheme.

Sentencing for MORGAN is scheduled for September 10, 2024 before United States District Judge Darrel James Papillion.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.  The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. The Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of the Inspector General, is an active member of the PRAC Fraud Task Force.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The United States Attorney’s Office would also like to acknowledge the assistance of the Department of Veteran Affairs, Office of the Inspector General; United States Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General; United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations; and the United States Secret Service’s Cyber Fraud Task Force, consisting of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, Thibodeaux Police Department, and the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation with this matter.  The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Brian M. Klebba, Chief of the Financial Crimes Unit; Assistant United States Attorney Edward Rivera, COVID-19 Fraud Coordinator of the Financial Crimes Unit; and Assistant United States Attorney Mary Katherine Kaufman, of the General Crimes Unit.