O'FALLON, ILL. — A plumber from O’Fallon, Illinois, was sentenced to three years of probation Wednesday for a federal crime related to a nearly $500,000 coronavirus relief loan and ordered to repay $310,000.
Jason E. Spengler, 45, applied for a Paycheck Protection Program loan in 2020. He got a $487,095 loan that April. The PPP was part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act.
Spengler did not disclose on his application that his company was in bankruptcy. Spengler Plumbing Co. was not eligible for the loan because of the bankruptcy. Spengler also failed to get authorization from the bankruptcy judge to take on any new unsecured debt, they said.
A representative of the bankruptcy trustee asked Spengler's lawyer about the loan in June of 2020. He repaid $176,751 nine days later but had already spent $310,343.
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Spengler’s lawyer, Justin Kuehn, said late Wednesday that Spengler had fully paid the restitution before sentencing.
In an email, Kuehn said, "Jason Spengler is a good man who made a mistake. The PPP money that he received went to payroll and kept hard working men and women employed during dire times stemming from (the) Coronavirus shutdown. He accepted responsibility and paid restitution from his own pocket. Mr. Spengler will take this probationary sentence as an opportunity to continue his long-standing efforts to be a charitable figure in the O’Fallon community.”
Spengler pleaded guilty in April in U.S. District Court to one felony count of making a false statement on a federal loan application.
UPDATED August 19 with information from Spengler's lawyer.
