SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 23, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — A Tooele woman was sentenced Tuesday to 15 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining approximately $177,030 from the COVID-19 paycheck protection program.
Halee Ann Mehlbauer, 40, was sentenced along with codefendant Timothy Lopez, who was sentenced to time served. Mehlbauer was also sentenced to two years’ supervised release and ordered by the court to pay $177,030 in restitution, of which $48,507 is to be paid jointly with Lopez, says a news release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, District of Utah.
The COVID-19 PPP Loans were provided to small businesses for funding to meet specific obligations, including payroll and rent during the pandemic.
The sentence, imposed by U.S. District Court Judge David Barlow, comes after Mehlbauer pleaded guilty on Sept. 24 of this year to wire fraud and money laundering.
According to court documents and statements made at Mehlbauer’s change of plea and sentencing hearings, beginning about July 15, 2020, and continuing to about January 15, 2022, Mehlbauer engaged in a Paycheck Protection Program Loan scheme and fraudulently obtained money through small lenders and the Small Business Administration.
She did so by providing false information on multiple PPP-Loan and other lender applications and provided supporting documents in the name of nonexistent businesses. Mehlbauer knowingly defrauded the PPP Loan Program alone of at least $177,030.
Once approved for PPP Loan funds, Mehlbauer and Lopez used the funds on personal expenses such as gambling, debt payments, car rental payments, and other miscellaneous expenses that were not related to any authorized payroll expenses for any of their alleged businesses, the news release says.
“Every dollar that Mehlbauer received in PPP-Loan funds was taxpayer money,” said U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak of the District of Utah.
“Mehlbauer fraudulently obtained funds meant for honest business owners faced with weathering the storm of a global pandemic and her fraud will not go unpunished. It is our hope her sentence deters others from taking advantage of government programs.”
“Driven by greed, these defendants defrauded the government, unlawfully diverting funds that were meant to support struggling small business owners and workers during a national emergency,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls of the Salt Lake City FBI. “The FBI is committed to holding accountable those who exploit government resources for personal profit at the expense of those in need.”
Assistant United States Attorney Todd C. Bouton of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah prosecuted the case.
