Texas and Maryland women plead guilty to COVID fraud

Date: Feb. 18, 2026

Contact: [email protected]

Buffalo, NY - U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Brandie S. Williams of Dallas, Texas, and Brittany L. Herbert of Brandywine, Maryland, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine. In addition, defendant Herbert also pleaded guilty to bank fraud.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Colleen M. McCarthy and Charles M. Kruly, and Ariel Glaser and Jennifer L. Bilinkas of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section, who are handling the case, stated that between May 2020 and June 2021, Williams and Herbert conspired with Adam Arena and Amanda Gloria, and others, to fraudulently obtain and misuse multiple COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) emergency relief loans, including:

• Williams, Herbert, and Gloria worked together to fraudulently obtain an approximately $292,700 loan for Williams's business, Beyond the Next Level, Inc. including by, among other things, preparing and submitting a fraudulent IRS tax form as part of the PPP loan application, which falsely stated that Williams's business had 25 employees and paid total payroll expenses of $1.4 million in 2019 when, in fact, the business had no employees. After receiving the PPP loan, Williams did not use the funds for legitimate business-related purposes. Instead, Williams used the funds for her own personal enrichment and transferred over $43,000 to bank accounts controlled by Gloria and Herbert.
• Williams, Herbert, Gloria, and Arena also worked together to fraudulently obtain a loan for approximately $954,000 for Arena's business, ADA Auto Group. After the PPP loan proceeds were transferred into an account controlled by Arena, he conducted a series of financial transactions, including for his own personal benefit, for Gloria's benefit, and for the benefit of others.

Adam Arena and Amanda Gloria were previously convicted for their roles in the conspiracy.

The pleas are the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Harry T. Chavis, Jr.; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Philip Tejera; the United States Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division, under the direction of Acting Inspector-in-Charge Nicholas J. Bucciarelli; and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Michael McGill, New York Field Division.

Brandie Williams is scheduled to be sentenced on June 11, 2026, and Brittany Herbert is scheduled to be sentenced on July 8, 2026, both before Judge Sinatra.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.