Castle Rock Man Sentenced to 20 Months in Federal Prison, More Than $5 Million in Restitution

DENVER - The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado announces that Joshua Lybolt, 47, Castle Rock, was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison, $5,346,802.61 in restitution, and a $50,000 fine after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.

According to the plea agreement and facts established at sentencing, from April 2020 until around August 2022, Joshua Lybolt applied for and received $4,950,000 in COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and $41,667 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds from an SBA-approved lender. Previously, Lybolt had owned and operated businesses in Indiana and had filed for bankruptcy in that state. Lybolt later moved to Colorado and applied for these fraudulent loans on behalf of the bankrupt businesses. Lybolt falsely certified in fraudulent loan applications that the business entities suffered losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite knowing that the business entities were not in operation on the dates required to receive relief funds. Lybolt then used the loan proceeds for personal expenses including the purchase of a 2022 Porsche Taycan, a 2022 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible, a 2021 Ford Bronco, a 2016 Land Rover Range Rover, memberships in a country club and a luxury vacation club, and properties in Avon, Basalt, and Snowmass Village, Colorado.

"Mr. Lybolt stole from hardworking American taxpayers so he could masquerade as something he is not: a successful businessman," said Peter McNeilly, United States Attorney for the District of Colorado. "I am proud of the work our team did to hold this fraudster accountable and return significant funds back to the federal government."

"The United States offered emergency financial assistance to Americans and businesses dealing with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. But this defendant misdirected those funds for personal luxuries," said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Amanda Koldjeski. "The FBI will continue to hold anyone accountable who abuses taxpayer dollars."

United States District Judge Daniel D. Domenico presided over the sentencing.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Craig Fansler handled the prosecution.

The core mission of the National Fraud Enforcement Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. The National Fraud Enforcement Division will fulfill that mission by coordinating with agencies responsible for administering benefit programs; partnering with federal, tribal, state, territorial, and local law enforcement on fraud-fighting efforts; developing systems and processes that ensure efficient identification of fraud against taxpayer dollars; and equipping prosecutors and law enforcement with state-of-the-art tools and resources needed to bring criminal actors to justice. The attorneys in the National Fraud Enforcement Division will work every day to protect the financial integrity of our government and the tax system that supports it.

Department of Justice effortsLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. support President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

Case Number: 1:24-cr-00212-DDD