A Roanoke Rapids man will spend 18 months in prison for his part in a COVID-19 rental scheme after sentencing Tuesday, according to federal court documents.

In January Timothy Kelvin Harvey pleaded guilty to one of the eight counts against him — a count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

He will have to serve three years of supervised release following the completion of his sentence, pay a $100 special assessment and pay restitution in the amount of $51,185.

Harvey and Arkino Williams were two Halifax County men charged in a conspiracy to defraud the NC Hope Program of rental assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Williams, of Enfield, is scheduled for arraignment on October 21.

Harvey was sentenced in Raleigh by District Judge James C. Dever III.

Harvey had originally been charged with eight counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

Williams is charged with four counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

The ringleader of the conspiracy, Joe Lewis Jefferson, 49, of Nashville, pleaded guilty last month, along with his wife, Danyael Jefferson, who took a plea to a count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud in March.

Mr. Jefferson faces up to 31 years in prison.

Mr. Jefferson recruited others to falsely pose as landlords for properties located in eastern North Carolina.  

In the names of these nominee landlords, he 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 Mr. Jefferson, who traveled with the nominee landlords to area banks to negotiate the checks and split the proceeds.  

Mr. 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.