Oregon Woman Pleads Guilty After Feds Say She Stole Nearly $500K in COVID Relief Meant to Save Jobs

By Diane Megaw On Jan 9, 2026

The owner of three businesses, 50-year-old Jodi Aliece Jennings of Junction City, Oregon, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to stealing over $487,386.75 in federal funds during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Junction City Woman Pleads Guilty To Stealing COVID Funds

On June 15, 2023, a federal grand jury in Eugene returned an indictment charging Jennings with nine counts of wire fraud for misappropriating COVID funds intended to help small businesses.

Court documents indicate that she applied for and obtained six Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans and one Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) Advance and submitted three fraudulent forgiveness applications for Meridian Redevelopment, J Jenn Enterprises Inc., and J2 Investments between April 2020 and January 2022.

Jennings used these loans for personal expenses after falsely claiming that the three companies were in business and had paid payroll before and during the pandemic. She stole at least $487,386.75, including the EIDL advance and principal, interest, and SBA-paid lender fees on the PPPs.

Tidings Context

PPP and EIDL were SBA pandemic relief programs. PPP could be forgiven if used for eligible costs. EIDL advances worked like grant funds. False applications can trigger federal wire fraud charges.

As part of the plea agreement, Jennings agreed to pay restitution to the SBA but still faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, plus three years of supervised release. Sentencing before a District Court Judge is scheduled for April 22.

Tidings Insight

Restitution repays the loss. The 20 year maximum is the legal ceiling, not the likely sentence. Judges use advisory guidelines and weigh factors like acceptance of responsibility at sentencing.

If you have information about attempted fraud involving COVID-19, you can report it to the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline: Call 866-720-5721 or submit a NCDF Web Complaint Form online.

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