A Nashville couple, who along with Enfield and Roanoke men as well as two others, pleaded guilty today in a scheme to defraud a program designed to help North Carolinians stay in their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joe Lewis Jefferson, 49, faces up to 31 years in prison.  

Jefferson’s wife, Danyael Davis Jefferson, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud for her role in the scheme in March.

Arkino Williams of Enfield is scheduled for arraignment on August 22 in Raleigh while Timothy Harvey of Roanoke Rapids, who took a plea, is scheduled for sentencing on September 3, according to federal court records.

According to a statement today from the United States Eastern District of North Carolina District Attorney’s office, information presented in court showed that Jefferson recruited others to falsely pose as landlords for properties located in eastern North Carolina.  

In the names of these nominee landlords, Jefferson prepared and submitted fraudulent North Carolina Housing Opportunities and Prevention of Evictions loan applications for emergency rental assistance.  

When the applications were approved, NC HOPE mailed checks to addresses controlled by Jefferson.  

Jefferson traveled with the nominee landlords to area banks to negotiate the checks and split the proceeds.  

Jefferson and his co-conspirators were responsible for the submission of at least 44 fraudulent applications for rental assistance, resulting in the disbursement of approximately $279,000.

The NC HOPE program administered federal COVID-19 relief funds and provided emergency rental assistance to North Carolina renters who faced eviction and homelessness during the pandemic.  

The program allowed renters to submit an online application to apply for rental assistance.  If approved, the program paid the tenant’s rent, in checks sent directly to the landlord, for up to 15 months of overdue or future rent payments.

Michael Easley, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after United States Magistrate Judge Robert T. Numbers II accepted the plea.  Sentencing will occur before United States District Judge James C. Dever II later this year. 

The investigation was conducted by IRS-Criminal Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. 

Assistant United States Attorney Toby Lathan is prosecuting the case.