SCAM PAC, PPP FRAUDSTER SENTENCED: The operator of a pair of scam PACs that bilked more than 2,000 unwitting donors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars was sentenced to 46 months in prison on Monday for a series of fraudulent schemes that included running the PACs and pocketing over $1 million in fake Paycheck Protection Program loans.
— James Kyle Bell of Las Vegas pleaded guilty to wire fraud in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia earlier this year, and in a sentencing hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Borchert said Bell’s case was the first scam PAC case to make it to the sentencing phase in the district — though he added that it almost certainly won’t be the last.
— Bell admitted to operating the super PAC called the Keep America Great Committee, which purported to support then-President Donald Trump, as well as the Best Days Lie Ahead Committee, which appeared to support Joe Biden, and brought in at least $346,000 in total, according to prosecutors, which Bell then pocketed.
— He also received money through the PPP program created to help small businesses weather the Covid-19 pandemic, submitting false applications for shell companies called Echo Three, Myson Rules, Red Five and Bella Thread. Bell submitted a false application for a fifth shell company but withdrew it before receiving money, prosecutors said….