ATLANTA – Shelitha Robertson, an attorney and former Atlanta police officer who once ran as a Democrat to become a superior court judge, was found guilty by a federal jury in the Northern District of Georgia on Tuesday for fraudulently obtaining more than $7 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
Federal prosecutors said Robertson, 62, used the money to purchase a $148,000 10-carat diamond ring, a motorcycle, and even a Rolls-Royce, among other luxury items.
Robertson and a business partner received PPP loans for multiple companies even though only one was operational at the time, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
According to AJC, the two women ran companies that had been awarded multimillion-dollar water and sewer infrastructure contracts in Atlanta.
Robertson blamed her business associate and attorney, Chandra Norton for the companies’ fraudulent 2020 PPP loan applications. Norton previously pleaded guilty in 2020 to a count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and, as part of the plea deal, cooperated with the federal government against Robertson, the Post Millennial reported.
Federal prosecutor Ariel Glasner said Robertson had threatened to kill Norton and another person when she was arrested.
DOJ provided the following details in its press release:
A federal jury in the Northern District of Georgia convicted a Georgia attorney and former City of Atlanta police officer yesterday of fraudulently obtaining over $7 million in loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Shelitha Robertson, 62, of Atlanta, conspired to submit PPP loan applications on behalf of four businesses she owned. The loan applications falsely inflated the number of employees and average monthly payroll for each of the four businesses, inducing larger PPP loans than Robertson could legitimately obtain. Robertson and a co-conspirator also caused the submission of false tax documents to support the false statements in each loan application. Robertson used the loan proceeds to purchase luxury items, including a 10-carat diamond ring, and to transfer funds to family members and her co-conspirator.
The jury convicted Robertson of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering. She is scheduled to be sentenced on April 11, 2024, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for money laundering. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Robertson is the second defendant to be convicted as part of the Justice Department’s prosecution of an approximately $15 million PPP fraud conspiracy. Robertson’s co-conspirator pleaded guilty prior to trial.
Once the verdict was rendered, Robertson was remanded into custody pending her sentencing.
Norton has been disbarred and is scheduled to be sentenced in January.
