A 30-year-old Camden man has been sentenced to two years probation for wire fraud related to misuse of COVID-19 aid.
Yani Stancioff also was ordered to pay restitution of $66,784.
According to court records, in 2020 and 2021, Stancioff exploited the COVID-19 pandemic by submitting fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program, and Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds.
Stancioff submitted three fraudulent applications and obtained $51,666. On his EIDL application, he claimed to be the sole proprietor of a non-existent agricultural business. On his PPP applications, Stancioff falsely claimed to be the sole proprietor of a marketing business with gross income of approximately $107,000. As part of the false PPP applications, Stancioff filed falsified IRS documents.
Stancioff faced up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, followed by up to three years of supervised release.
He pleaded guilty in January as part of a plea agreement in which the U.S. Attorney’s Office recommended 16 months in prison. He was sentenced July 8 by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Lance Walker.
Camden lawyer Jeremy Pratt represented Stancioff in the case. In his sentencing recommendation, the defense lawyer pointed out that his client spent his earliest months of his life in a Bulgarian orphanage during a period of severe economic hardship and that the baby received little physical contact and inadequate nutrition. When his adoptive parents finally brought him home to Maine, he suffered from failure to thrive, and other illnesses.
Stancioff struggled academically, experienced repeated bullying and racism in school, struggled to understand where he belonged, and battled depression throughout much of his adolescence.
“Despite these extraordinary hardships, Yani has never stopped trying to build a productive life,” his attorney told the court in his written recommendation.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager