Woman spent COVID funds on destination wedding and DoorDash; she's heading to prison
BATON ROUGE — A Baton Rouge woman was sentenced to more than a year in prison after admitting she misused more than $100,000 worth of COVID-19 disaster funding, including more than $20,000 on a destination wedding in Florida and more than $2,000 worth of DoorDash deliveries.
Gernesia Williams, 47, was sentenced Monday to 13 months in prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the knowing conversion of government funds. She was also ordered to pay $110,030.47 in restitution.
According to federal court records, Williams received $100,000 in U.S. Small Business Administration’s COVID-19 economic injury disaster loans between April 2020 and January 2023.
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The funds were supposed to be used to alleviate economic injury caused by the pandemic. Instead, she misused part of the money she received, including $33,500 spent on jewelry and $21,666.71 on a wedding, prosecutors said Tuesday. The DoorDash deliveries cost $2,055.74.