Shreveport Man Sentenced for Fraud and Illegal Firearm Possession

United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that Mario Maurice Hall, Jr., 38, of Shreveport, has been sentenced by United States District Judge Donald E. Walter to 74 months (6 years, 2 months) in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, for committing wire fraud and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense.

Hall was charged in a Bill of Information with wire fraud in connection with his intent to devise a scheme to defraud the government by obtaining money and property from the Small Business Administration (SBA) via a Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan. He was also charged in an Indictment with the firearms offense.

Hall pleaded guilty to both charges. In March 2020 Congress enacted the CARES Act which was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who were suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the CARES Act, the SBA provided Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), which were low-interest financing to small businesses, renters and homeowners in regions affected by declared disasters.

The CARES Act also provided authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, through a program referred to as the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). Hall submitted applications for three separate PPP loans and was approved for these loans after providing false information on each of the applications. On February 24, 2021, and May 26, 2021, Hall was approved for two PPP loans, for $19,415 and $20,833, for purported “Offices of Physicians, Mental Health Specialists.” Hall admitted to knowingly submitting fraudulent 1040 and 1099 tax forms, as well as false bank statements in order to qualify for these loans. When in truth and in fact, Hall had no legitimate income to qualify for the loans, nor did he truthfully meet any of the qualifications.

On May 26, 2021, Hall applied for a third PPP loan for purported “Sound Recording Studios” in the amount of $20,832. Hall admitted to again knowingly providing false and fraudulent information on the application related to the business he alleged to have. In connection with the firearms offense, agents with the Shreveport Police Department and United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) intercepted a package that was sent to a Page 2 of 2 residential address in Shreveport on March 9, 2023. The package was opened via a federal search warrant, and it contained approximately five pounds of marijuana.

The package was then closed, and a tracker was installed. The agents conducted a controlled delivery to the address on the package and it was retrieved by a male at the residence. After a period of time, another individual drove up to the residence and went inside the residence and retrieved the package and put it in the rear driver side of his vehicle.

Agents subsequently observed Hall arrive at the residence and remove the package from the rear driver side of the first vehicle and move it to his own vehicle. The package tracker indicated the package had been opened and agents approached Hall and his co-conspirator to execute a search warrant. They found both to have UV powder on their hands. Agents also observed Hall gripping a dark colored object in his waist band and he fled into the residence and came back out. A search of the residence resulted in the discovery of a Glock Model 23 .40 caliber pistol on the couch and over 1.4 kilograms of packaged marijuana. Hall admitted that the gun was his.

“This defendant had no legitimate income or business, but nevertheless decided to fraudulently obtain these funds during a time when America was at arguably one of her most vulnerable states,” said U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown. “He is also a drug dealer, and the combination of the convicted crimes shows we were willing to utilize any statute necessary to hold those in this community accountable for such illicit activity.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Postal Inspection Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Shreveport Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Aaron Crawford.