Sophia Lacayo Sentenced to 18 Months for $948K PPP Fraud
- F.I. Editorial Team
- 34 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Sophia Lacayo was actually sentenced in May to 18 months in federal prison. The Justice Department did not publicly announce the case until August, as restitution proceedings remain unresolved.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday, August 14th, that former Sweetwater, Florida Commissioner Sophia Lacayo was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining approximately $948,325 in Paycheck Protection Program loans.
But the sentencing itself is not new.
Federal court records show U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles imposed the 18-month sentence on May 11, 2026, more than three months before the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida issued its August 14 press release. Lacayo pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
Local media reported the sentencing at the time. NBC6 published its report on May 12, stating that Lacayo had received 18 months in federal prison and would serve another three years of supervised release after completing the prison term. Telemundo 51 also reported the sentence on May 11.
The DOJ's August announcement therefore represents a delayed federal announcement of a sentence already imposed in May, rather than a new sentencing development. The U.S. Attorney's Office did not explain in its release why the announcement came more than three months after the court entered judgment.
Nearly $950,000 in PPP Loans
According to federal prosecutors, Lacayo owned Lacayo Trade Group Inc. and exercised significant control over QC Tax Pro Systems LLC and QC Trade Group LLC.
Prosecutors said Lacayo submitted or caused fraudulent PPP applications to be submitted for those companies using inflated payroll expenses, employee counts, revenues, and wages. Supporting materials allegedly included falsified IRS forms, fabricated payroll records, and a falsified bank statement.
The four loans identified by prosecutors totaled approximately $948,325:
The offense listed in the final judgment ended in May 2021. Lacayo ultimately pleaded guilty to wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. §1343.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones emphasized both the misuse of a small-business relief program and Lacayo's history as an elected official when announcing the case in August.
Federal prosecutors said Lacayo used fabricated documents to obtain money from a program created to help businesses retain employees during the pandemic and said her former public position made the conduct particularly significant.
Lacayo Was Ordered to Begin Serving the Sentence in June
The May judgment provides additional detail that was not apparent from the timing of the August DOJ announcement.
Judge Gayles sentenced Lacayo to 18 months in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and recommended that she be placed at a federal camp facility in Miami or as close to Miami as possible.
Rather than being immediately remanded after sentencing, Lacayo was ordered to self-surrender by noon on June 10, 2026, to the institution designated by the Bureau of Prisons. If no institution had been designated by that date, she was ordered to surrender to the U.S. Marshals Service at the federal courthouse in Miami.
That means the court-ordered date for Lacayo to begin serving her prison sentence had already passed by more than two months when DOJ published its August 14 announcement.
After completing the prison term, Lacayo is also subject to three years of supervised release.
The court imposed several financial restrictions during that supervision period. Among other conditions, Lacayo must provide probation officers access to her personal and business financial information and cannot obtain new loans, lines of credit or other debt without permission from the U.S. Probation Office. The judgment also calls for community service and restrictions on credit-card use.
Restitution Is Still Not Finished
While the prison sentence was decided in May, one important part of the case remains unresolved: restitution.
The original May 11 judgment listed restitution as “to be determined” and initially deferred the restitution determination until August 6, 2026. The judgment also established how restitution would be collected during incarceration and after release, once an amount was determined.
DOJ's August 14 announcement provides a more recent update.
Federal prosecutors said Lacayo had already repaid more than $444,000 in advance restitution, money that had reimbursed lenders for fraudulent loans. DOJ said a hearing to determine the amount of additional restitution is now scheduled for October 7.
That continuing restitution process may help explain why activity in the case continued months after the prison sentence was imposed. However, DOJ has not publicly stated that the pending restitution proceedings were the reason for delaying its announcement of the sentence.
Why Did DOJ Wait Three Months to Announce It?
There is no explanation in the August 14 press release for the gap.
The federal judgment is dated May 11. NBC6 and other outlets reported the sentence almost immediately. The DOJ press release itself is clearly dated August 14 and labeled “For Immediate Release.”
What did change between May and August was the status of restitution. The May judgment contemplated an August 6 restitution determination, while DOJ's newer announcement says the hearing is now scheduled for October 7 and discloses that more than $444,000 had already been repaid.
Still, absent an explanation from the U.S. Attorney's Office, it would be speculation to say that restitution caused the delayed press release.
Separate Legal History
Lacayo previously served on the Sweetwater City Commission before resigning after pleading guilty in 2020 to a misdemeanor perjury charge related to whether she lived within the city when she ran for office. She received probation in that case.
She later ran for the Miami-Dade County Commission in 2022. In a separate state case, prosecutors charged her in 2023 with numerous alleged campaign-finance violations arising from that campaign. Those allegations are distinct from the federal PPP fraud conviction discussed here. As recently as March 2026, litigation was continuing over how many of those state charges could proceed.
Pandemic Loan Fraud Cases Continue Years Later
Lacayo's case also illustrates the unusually long enforcement tail surrounding federal pandemic-relief lending.
The PPP loans at issue date to the pandemic era, with the judgment listing the wire-fraud offense as ending in May 2021. Yet the federal prison sentence was not imposed until May 2026, approximately five years later.
The case, like the Carmine Agnello (John Gottis's grandson) case that we just published, where he has reported to prison for PPP fraud, is another reminder that enforcement related to PPP and other COVID-era small-business lending programs remains active long after the programs themselves ended.
