A Kennewick man recently was sentenced to 12 months in prison and to pay tens of thousands of dollars in restitution along with one of his co-defendants for stealing nearly $300,000 in relief funds distributed during the Covid-19 pandemic for small businesses. 

The sentences follow guilty pleas from David Kurt Schneider of Kennewick and Kelly Jo Driver of South Carolina for Covid-19 relief fraud, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington.  

Driver was also sentenced to five months’ probation. 

Another co-defendant, Leif Gerald Larsen of Pasco, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and will be sentenced July 30 in Yakima. 

“Those who exploited (the U.S. Small Business Administration’s) pandemic relief programs for personal gain will be held accountable,” said Tim Larson, assistant special agent in charge for SBA’s Office of Inspector General for the Western Region, in a statement.  

According to court documents and information presented at sentencing, Schneider, Driver, and Larsen submitted funding applications in the name of Larsen Firearms, owned by Larsen, and Solar Mobility LLC, RealNZ Water LLC, and Tempest Tactical Solutions, LLC, all owned by Schneider, for relief funds via the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.  

Both programs were created in the early weeks of the pandemic as businesses struggled with the impacts of shutdowns and increased costs. 

Driver created fraudulent payroll and tax forms that Schneider and Larsen submitted in support of the applications. For her role, she received 10% of the funds disbursed by the SBA and participating lenders. 

In total, Schneider, Driver, and Larsen fraudulently obtained at least $292,000 through the PPP and EIDL programs and submitted fraudulent applications seeking at least an additional $560,000 that were ultimately not approved. 

“Pandemic relief programs were created to support workers, small businesses, and communities struggling through an unprecedented crisis – not to enrich fraudsters,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Rich Barker in a statement. “By stealing nearly $300,000 intended for legitimate businesses, these defendants diverted critical resources at a time when many businesses were fighting to survive.” 

The Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business published a story in 2023 about Schneider, including his claim to have patented the first commercially sold, solar-powered wheelchair.