SALT LAKE CITY — A judge on Tuesday will decide whether to send a former Olympic speed skater to prison for unlawfully obtaining $10 million from the Paycheck Protection Program.
Prosecutors want 6-and-a-half years in prison for Allison Baver. Baver’s attorneys are asking federal Judge Jill Parrish for no prison and instead to sentence her to three years of supervised release.
Last year, a jury convicted Baver on two counts of making false statements designed to influence a bank, a count of money laundering, and one count of contempt.
Baver’s entertainment company received a $10 million loan through the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP. Allison Baver Entertainment reported having 430 employees.
Yet federal prosecutors contended she had no employees and used the money in ways that were not authorized by the program.
In the court filing where they made their sentencing recommendation, Baver’s attorneys continued to argue the criteria for PPP was confusing, that Baver intended to make movies with the money, but the pandemic shut down film productions and then government seized $9.5 million of the money she received.
Defense attorneys also say she has been diagnosed with a mild neurocognitive disorder due to multiple traumatic brain injuries suffered during skating falls as well as multiple car accidents. Baver, 44, has also been diagnosed with a personality disorder with strong features of narcissism, an attorney wrote.
Baver won bronze in the 3,000-meter relay at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
