Missouri – A St. Louis–area contractor who secured $1.7 million in federal pandemic relief funds through false statements will spend the next three years in prison, following a sentence handed down Tuesday in U.S. District Court.
U.S. District Judge Cristian M. Stevens ordered Coretta “Cory” Elliott, 53, to serve 36 months behind bars and repay the full amount she fraudulently obtained. Elliott, the owner and operator of CMT LLC and CMT Roofing LLC, had pleaded guilty in November to two counts of wire fraud.
According to the Department of Justice, The case focused on two Paycheck Protection Program loans Elliott received during the height of the COVID-19 crisis. In 2020, she secured an $875,000 first-draw PPP loan. The following year, she obtained a second-draw loan of $833,333. In both instances, prosecutors said she falsely certified that the money would be used strictly for legitimate business purposes, including payroll and operating costs.
Instead, authorities found she overstated her company’s monthly payroll figures to qualify for larger loan amounts. Later, when applying for forgiveness of the loans, Elliott again submitted false claims, stating that the funds had been spent on payroll and other approved expenses.
The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to help businesses survive the economic shutdown by covering wages, rent, utilities and similar costs. But during sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith said Elliott treated the loans as a personal financial lifeline rather than a public safety net.
Court records show she transferred $200,000 into her investment account and directed $559,455 toward union dues owed by her companies. Those dues covered benefits such as health insurance, sick leave and vacation pay. Additional funds were used for other personal purposes, prosecutors said.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the St. Louis Division stated that Elliott’s actions secured her far more than she may have been entitled to, while also giving her an unfair advantage over competing contractors who followed the rules.
“We will never know whether Coretta Elliott’s business would have legitimately qualified for disaster relief funds. However, by submitting substantial false information across multiple applications, she fraudulently secured $1.7 million in funds,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division.
“Her deceit not only led to her unlawfully obtaining far more than she may have otherwise been entitled to, but it also gave her an unfair competitive advantage over other local contractors. This type of criminal conduct, driven by greed, undermines the integrity of the disaster relief system and harms those who play by the rules.”
The FBI investigated the case, and Goldsmith prosecuted it on behalf of the government.
