Lakeland man sentenced for COVID fraud, ordered to pay $370K

A Polk County man has been sentenced to federal prison after pleading guilty to charges in a COVID fraud case.

Jeanty Cherilus, 54, of Lakeland was indicted on five counts of wire fraud in September and pleaded guilty in January. He was sentenced to a year and a half in federal prison and must forfeit $370,000 — the amount of money he falsely obtained through fraudulent COVID-era loans, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida.

Prosecutors say that  from June 2020 until March 2021, while working as an owner of Natransusa, an auto parts business offering car maintenance and transportation services, Cherilus submitted applications for Paycheck Protection Program loans and an Economic Injury Disaster Loan using false information, including an inflated number of employees and average payroll.