Texas woman sentenced to 18 months in prison for wire fraud

Date: Oct. 1, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Moline, IL – A Texas City, Texas, woman, Dorothy Barber, was sentenced last week to 18 months of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for wire fraud. Barber also was ordered to pay $311,768.85 in restitution.

According to court documents and statements in court, Barber, along with others, recruited and assisted other individuals to fraudulently apply for Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans during the COVID-19 pandemic. PPP loans were supposed to be used for certain qualifying business expenses. Barber, who fraudulently obtained her own $20,000 PPP loan, also received kickbacks from other individuals whom she assisted in obtaining loans.

At the sentencing hearing on Sept. 24, 2026, U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow said that Barber took advantage of a program meant to serve as a safety net for employers and to preserve peoples’ livelihoods during a vulnerable time in history. Judge Darrow stated that “these types of crimes come with real consequences.”

A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Barber in May 2025. Barber pleaded guilty in December 2025.

“Our office is committed to prosecuting individuals such as the defendant who took advantage of a program designed to help small business owners in the midst of the pandemic,” said United States Attorney for the Central District of Illinois Gregory M. Gilmore. “Stealing money from government programs is a fraud on the taxpayers and diverts these critical financial resources away from legitimate funding needs. We are grateful to our federal and local partners for their work in investigating these crimes.”

“Ms. Barber is one of many fraudsters who exploited a program created to helped legitimate small business owners crippled by the pandemic,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge William Steenson. “IRS-CI special agents are unwavering in their commitment to bringing justice on behalf of all taxpayers by exposing those who stole from CARES Act pandemic relief programs. Our work in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and other federal law enforcement agencies should make pandemic era thieves nervous as we ramp up efforts to track them down.”

The statutory penalties for wire fraud are not more than 30 years’ imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Small Business Administration investigated the case with assistance from the Galesburg Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer L. Mathew represented the government at sentencing.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 16 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.