A man sentenced to 20 months in prison for illegally obtaining funds intended to help businesses survive the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic is appealing his sentence to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.
Nathan Reardon is expected to claim that his sentence should have been based on the amount of money he received, not the amount of money he attempted to obtain fraudulently.
Reardon’s attorney, Hunter Tzovarras of Bangor, unsuccessfully made that argument to U.S. District Judge Lance Walker at the Nov. 2 sentencing.
Reardon, 44, of Skowhegan and Plymouth pleaded guilty in July to five counts of bank fraud for obtaining a $60,000 Paycheck Protection Program loan in 2020 by falsifying information about payroll for his business.
As part of his plea agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office, Reardon agreed not to appeal his sentence if it was less than a year and a day. Since his sentence is longer than that, he has the right to have his appeal heard before a three-judge panel in Boston. A date will be set for oral arguments after briefs are filed.
So far, Reardon has not asked to be released on bail while his appeal is pending.
It is possible that Reardon could be released from federal prison with time off his sentence for good behavior before the appeal is decided.
Reardon has been incarcerated at the Hancock County Jail in Ellsworth as a boarder from the Penobscot County Jail since April, when he was arrested on a bail violation. That time will be applied to his sentence.
Reardon remained at the Ellsworth jail Tuesday while awaiting his assignment to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
The loan Reardon fraudulently obtained was intended to allow businesses to pay employees affected by widespread shutdowns during the early days of the pandemic. Reardon applied for four loans for two of his businesses, each totaling $59,145, but only succeeded in securing one loan.
He used the fraudulently obtained money on personal items, such as a men’s 14-carat yellow gold wedding band, clothing, shaving products, toys, an LED barber pole light and a pair of caiman skin cowboy boots, according to court documents. Caimans are a species related to alligators found in Central and South America.
Federal prosecutors sought a sentence of up to two years based on the amount Reardon attempted to steal — $236,580 — even though he never obtained the full amount. In sentencing Reardon, the judge agreed that Reardon’s sentence should be based on the amount he tried to steal, and not on the amount of the single loan he secured.
