Man gets 2 1/2 years in prison for COVID, bank loan fraud

ST. LOUIS (AP) – A federal judge has sentenced a University City business owner to prison and ordered him to repay more than half-a-million dollars that he took in from bank and COVID-19 pandemic-related fraud.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Le Mell Harlston pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in August to five counts of bank fraud and nine counts of misuse of a Social Security number.

U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark sentenced him on Friday to 30 months in prison and ordered him to repay $650,000.