KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A district judge sentenced a Gatlinburg woman to more than two years in prison after she admitted to lying about a religious charity to fraudulently obtain nearly $350,000 in COVID-19 relief funds.
In a release, the U.S. Department of Justice said Judge Thomas Varlan sentenced Sarrah Willhite, 35, to 27 months in prison. He ordered her to pay back the $346,600 she stole and to complete two years of supervised release after prison.
According to the release, Willhite applied for a Small Business Administration loan in 2021 on behalf of Rescue Army Nation Ministries — a nonprofit she claimed to own and operate. The DOJ said she submitted false documents to support her application, including a profit and loss statement she fabricated.
The DOJ said she lied about the nonprofit having eight employees when, in fact, it had none at all. The SBA approved her application on Dec. 17, 2021, and gave her $346,600 in COVID-19 relief funds.
The DOJ said Willhite spent almost all of the money on personal items or expenses, including a vacation to Disney World and paying off student loans. She also bought land, two vehicles and a travel trailer. She transferred the rest of the money to her personal checking account, it said.
The FBI investigated the case.