Hanford Site Subcontractor Pleads Guilty to Stealing COVID-19 Relief Funding, Owner Agrees to Pay $1.1 Million in Restitution and Penalties

Richland, Washington - Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced today that BNL Technical Services, LLC (BNL), pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining $493,865 as part of a scheme to obtain COVID-19 relief funding. Chief United States District Judge Stanley A. Bastian accepted BNL's guilty plea, and set sentencing for March 11, 2025, at 1:30 p.m., in Yakima, Washington. U.S. Attorney Waldref further announced that BNL's owner, Wilson Pershing Stevenson III, of Nashville, Tennessee, agreed to pay $1,105,498 as part of a civil settlement in the case to resolve his individual liability arising from BNL's receipt of COVID relief funding.

In the plea agreement accepted by the court and in information disclosed during court proceedings, between 2020 and 2021, BNL provided contract labor services to Hanford Site prime contractors. BNL's labor costs and payroll continued to be paid by DOE throughout the pandemic, including when BNL employees were not able to physically work at the site and instead were teleworking or simply home in "ready" status.

In April of 2020, BNL applied for and received a $493,865 loan as part of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Congress created the PPP in March 2020 as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, to provide funding to small businesses in order to mitigate the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic for small and local businesses. PPP loans were fully guaranteed by the United States, and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) may grant a small business borrower forgiveness so long as the loan proceeds have been used for payroll and other eligible expenses.

BNL fraudulently sought and obtained PPP funding for BNL employees despite their pay and benefits already being covered by DOE contract funds and other federal sources including the Veterans Administration. Shortly after receiving the funds, BNL transferred and used more than $424,230 of the PPP proceeds on unauthorized expenditures.

In August of 2021, BNL, through its sole owner Wilson Pershing Stevenson III, requested and was granted forgiveness of the $493,865 PPP loan, by falsely and fraudulently certifying the loan proceeds had been used for eligible uses and business expenses between April and October of 2020.

"These critical and limited COVID-19 funds were set aside to help small businesses stay afloat during a deadly pandemic. BNL fraudulently obtained these funds and then illegally used the money for their own purpose," stated U.S. Attorney Waldref. "I'm proud of the work done by my Office's COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force in this case. By holding fraudsters accountable, we are protecting small and local businesses that are so important to our community and economy."

"Today's guilty plea should send a message that the VA Office of Inspector General will diligently pursue those who would illegally line their pockets at the expense of the taxpayer," said Special Agent in Charge Dimitriana Nikolov with the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General's Northwest Field Office. "The VA OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners as part of the COVID-19 Strike Force to investigate fraud against relief programs intended to support bona fide recipients."

"The misuse of pandemic relief funds intended to support struggling small businesses is a serious offense that undermines the integrity of critical assistance programs," said SBA OIG's Western Region Special Agent in Charge Weston King. "Our office will remain steadfast in pursuing those who use such vital resources for personal gain. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney's office and our law enforcement partners for their collaboration and dedication to justice in this case."

This case was investigated as part of the U.S. Attorney's Office COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force, an interagency team of federal law enforcement agencies dedicated to combatting COVID relief fraud in Eastern Washington. The BNL case was investigated by the Department of Energy, Office of Inspector General, Richland Field Office, the Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General, and the VA Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorneys Dan Fruchter and Tyler H.L. Tornabene are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.