Carmine Agnello, the grandson of John Gotti, has received a 15-month prison sentence for his role in defrauding the US government's Covid-19 relief fund of $1.1 million, which he partly used to invest in cryptocurrency. According to the Department of Justice, Agnello fraudulently obtained multiple disaster relief loans from the Small Business Administration and diverted the funds for personal use, including a $420,000 investment in a cryptocurrency business. The US Attorney's Eastern District of New York office stated that Agnello submitted false information to the SBA between April 2020 and November 2021, claiming the funds were for his autoparts and recycling business in Queens.
Agnello will begin his sentence on July 1 and must repay the defrauded amount as part of his sentence. This case is not isolated, as numerous individuals have been convicted of defrauding the government's Covid relief fund, with estimated losses of up to $135 billion. Agnello's grandfather, John Gotti, was a notorious mob boss who headed the Gambino crime family and was convicted of multiple crimes before his death in prison.