A downtown Los Angeles man faces sentencing Thursday for fraudulently obtaining more than $300,000 — and attempting to obtain an additional $2 million — in COVID-relief loans, and illegally possessing guns and ammunition.
Sean Schoepflin, 44, also known as Sean Fitzgerald, was found guilty last year of wire fraud and money laundering. He was separately convicted this year of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Evidence showed that from April 2020 to October 2021, Schoepflin made numerous false statements to the U.S. Small Business Administration to secure Economic Injury Disaster Loans for his fictitious businesses.
Schoepflin falsely stated that the business entities he created had several employees and several hundred thousand dollars in revenues, and that the loans would be used for working capital for those companies. Schoepflin also falsely stated on loan applications that he had never been convicted of a felony.
In fact, the businesses — Capital Adventures Inc., Lady Capital Inc., Digital Army Ltd. and Lady Pictures LLP — had no employees and little or no revenue and the defendant used the loans largely for personal expenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Schoepflin had previously been convicted of multiple felonies dating back to the late 1990s in Florida state court, including witness tampering, cocaine possession and burglary, federal prosecutors said.
When law enforcement executed a search warrant at Schoepflin’s DTLA residence to investigate the COVID-19 fraud, they seized a slew of firearms and ammunition, all of which the defendant was prohibited from possessing as a six-time convicted felon, prosecutors said.
In total, law enforcement retrieved nine firearms, including three AR-style rifles, and more than 4,000 rounds of ammunition, along with multiple high-capacity magazines and tactical vests, evidence showed.
Schoepflin’s wife, Erika Leon, 46, also known as Erika Fitzgerald, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of wire fraud. Trial is set for Feb. 27 in Los Angeles federal court.