The former owner of the Budlong Hot Chicken chain and other restaurants in Chicago and Denver has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after admitting to fraudulently obtaining more than $2.3 million in COVID relief funds and failing to pay more than $430,000 in taxes withheld from his employees.
Jared Leonard, 45, of Littleton, Colorado, was sentenced this month by U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang in Chicago. Chang also ordered him to pay nearly $2.8 million in restitution to the IRS and the United States Small Business Administration, according to federal prosecutors.
According to a government sentencing memorandum, Leonard filed at least ten fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds between April 2020 and March 2021, each of which contained false information about his businesses, such as employee counts, payroll expenses, gross revenue, and whether the businesses were operating…