Nikolas Kerest U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont
Burlington, Vermont - Andrew Hollins, also known as Andrew Jones, has been sentenced to 62 months in prison following guilty pleas to charges of narcotics trafficking, wire fraud, and money laundering. The sentencing took place on January 31, 2024, in the United States District Court in Burlington. Chief U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss also ordered Hollins to serve three years of supervised release after his prison term and pay $33,000 in restitution. His federal sentence will run concurrently with a two to four-year sentence he is serving in New York State for gun charges.
In December 2022, a federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment alleging that Hollins distributed cocaine on three occasions in late 2019. Additionally, the grand jury charged him with fraud, money laundering, and identity theft related to pandemic-related Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications submitted to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in mid-2020.
The indictment detailed that Hollins applied for eight EIDL loans using his name and those of two shell businesses he founded, along with the names of two relatives and three individuals whose identities he stole. Some applications were funded by the SBA while others were rejected due to suspected fraud. Two loans were partially funded totaling $33,000.
The investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation division and Homeland Security Investigations.
Hollins was represented by Federal Public Defender Michael Desautels. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.
