Former Restaurant Owner Sentenced to Federal Prison for COVID Relief Fraud and Tax Evasion
Jared Leonard, the former owner of Budlong Hot Chicken and other restaurants in Chicago and Denver, has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang in Chicago also ordered Leonard to pay approximately $2.8 million in restitution to the IRS and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Leonard admitted to fraudulently obtaining over $2.3 million in COVID relief funds, specifically from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) programs, between April 2020 and March 2021. He submitted at least 10 fraudulent applications containing false information about his businesses, including employee counts, payroll expenses, and gross revenue. Instead of using the funds for his businesses and employees, Leonard diverted most of the money for personal expenses. Additionally, he failed to remit over $430,000 in federal income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes withheld from his employees over a 15-month period. Leonard was eventually locate... 
