Dewayne Barrett, ex-world-class sprinter from Elmont, gets 18 months in prison for $1.8M COVID fraud, doping scheme
Dewayne Barrett, a former world-class sprinter from Elmont, pleaded guilty to $1.8 million COVID loan fraud and doping athletes. Credit: Corbis via Getty Images/Tim Clayton
A former world-class sprinter from Elmont was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in prison for leading schemes to steal nearly $2 million in pandemic business relief and supply banned drugs to Olympic athletes.
Dewayne Barrett, 43, was also ordered to serve 1 year of probation, plus pay forfeiture of $96,500 and restitution estimated to be $1.9 million.
He pleaded guilty in May in Manhattan federal court to one count of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit major international doping fraud, to adulterate and misbrand drugs and to introduce them into interstate commerce.
Barrett is among at least 31 Long Islanders charged with defrauding pandemic-era programs that include the Paycheck Protection Program loans, COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans, the Employee Retention Credit and several other tax credits, a Newsday analysis found.
Together, the defendants are accused of illegally obtaining more than $93 million, according to federal court filings in Central Islip, New York City and White Plains.
In a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday, federal prosecutor Sarah Mortazavi said Barrett submitted false applications for PPP loans for 72 people in 2020 and 2021. He claimed they were independent contractors who had been thrown out of work by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Mr. Barrett was the driving force; he was soliciting people,” Mortazavi said. “The defendant was the person who filled out the false IRS forms with inflated incomes to obtain larger loans from the federal government at a time of tremendous strain and crisis.”
Each successful applicant received between $20,000 and $29,000 in PPP loan funds and paid Barrett a kickback of $2,000. He collected a total of $140,000 in kickbacks, according to court documents.
The PPP applications sought a total of more than $3 million and secured $1.8 million from banks and other private lenders, the documents show.
Barrett launched the PPP fraud scheme, together with the doping scheme, after his gym and personal trainer business, Golden Touch Fitness LLC, closed due to the 2020-21 economic lockdown, according to eight letters submitted by Barrett's family and friends to the judge before sentencing. The lockdown was imposed to slow COVID's spread.
Barrett was a track-and-field star during his days at St. John’s University in 2001-05. He represented his native Jamaica at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain, where he won a silver medal in the 4x400 meter relay.
In 2021, Barrett and two co-conspirators supplied performance-enhancing drugs to at least three athletes from Nigeria, Switzerland and the United Kingdom who were preparing for the Tokyo Olympics. In a text message, Barrett offered to serve as a “drug coach” to one of the athletes, according to a federal indictment.
One co-conspirator has been sentenced to three months in prison and the other is awaiting sentencing, U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon said on Tuesday.
In handing down the sentence, the judge said, “As a great athlete, Mr. Barrett knew it was wrong to [supply banned drugs], to offer to be a drug coach that would lie for [athletes]."
The judge also said the PPP fraud “wasn’t a crime of desperation,” citing Barrett’s college degree, athletic accomplishments, strong family and job at his wife’s Elmont-based construction business.
Before the sentence was announced, Barrett addressed the court, saying he knew what he did was wrong and promised never again to break the law.
“I’m so sorry for the hurt that I caused,” Barrett said while his wife sat nearby quietly sobbing. “Going forward, I’m taking steps to be a better person.”
His legal-aid attorney, Martin Cohen of the Federal Defenders, said Barrett plans to pay the full forfeiture of $96,500 immediately, thanks to a windfall from investing in cryptocurrency.
“Mr. Barrett was in financial distress” due to the pandemic, the attorney said. “That doesn’t excuse his crimes, but he is not a persistent criminal.”
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Dewayne Barrett, a former world-class sprinter now living in Elmont, was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in prison for orchestrating schemes to steal nearly $2 million in pandemic business-relief loans in 2020 and 2021 and to supply banned drugs to athletes training for the Tokyo Olympics.
- He was also sentenced to 1 year of probation and must pay restitution estimated to be $1.9 million.
- Barrett represented his native Jamaica in the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain, where he won a silver medal in the 4x400 meter relay.
James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.
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