CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WV News) — A Morgantown man has pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael John Aloi to wire fraud and failure to withhold or pay over tax in an alleged COVID-19 relief scheme.

James Baldwin II, originally from Buckhannon, stipulated to owing the U.S. Small Business Administration $748,230, and to owing the IRS $258,993.

Final plea acceptance, and sentencing, will fall with Article III Judge Thomas S. Kleeh, the Northern District's chief U.S. district judge.

The charges stem from a scheme to defraud the United States by submitting fraudulent applications for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The PPP, created under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, was designed to provide financial assistance to businesses impacted by the COV

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