Former Cuban Military Sergeant Sentenced to Federal Prison in Pandemic Benefits Fraud Conspiracy

A former sergeant in the Cuban military, who obtained fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loans and recruited others to do so, was sentenced on December 3, 2025, to four years in federal prison. Yovany Ciero, age 48, from Mason City, Iowa, formerly of Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela, received the prison term after a May 8, 2025, jury verdict finding him guilty of three counts of wire fraud, 23 counts of money laundering, one count of engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from specified unlawful activity, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.

Evidence at Ciero's trial and sentencing showed that Ciero is a former sergeant in the Cuban military who crossed the Mexican border nearly twenty years ago after his request for a visa to enter the United States was denied. In 2020, Ciero was working at an Algona meatpacking plant when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Beginning in July 2020, Ciero and over one hundred other immigrants from Cuba obtained fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans by falsely claiming that they were self-employed and each had earned approximately $100,000 in gross income in 2019 when they actually worked at the meatpacking plant or elsewhere.

Ciero was one of six "bundlers" in the fraudulent PPP loan scheme. Ciero's role was to recruit individuals into the scheme, obtain their personal identifying information for the fraudulent loan applications, and then pass that information to others who submitted the fraudulent loan applications to lenders who were participating in the PPP. The evidence established that over $4 million in fraudulent loan PPP applications were submitted, and the government lost over $2.4 million as a result.

Once the individuals received their fraudulent PPP loan funds, typically $20,000 each, Ciero served as a "funnel" in a money laundering conspiracy. Ciero collected fees that the organizers of the scheme charged the applicants, typically $3,000 per $20,000 fraudulent loan.

Ciero also obtained two fraudulent PPP loans for himself and his paramour. Ciero used most of this PPP loan money to purchase a semi-truck. After obtaining the PPP money, Ciero also obtained a Federal Housing Administration loan for the purchase of a home in Mason City. The district court judge found that Ciero had obstructed justice when he testified falsely at trial.

Ciero is the fifth former Iowa meatpacking plant worker sentenced in the PPP scheme:

● In December 2024, Dinneris Matos Delgado, age 41, from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, formerly of Storm Lake and Algona, Iowa, and Cuba, was sentenced to ten months of imprisonment and ordered to pay $60,744 in restitution, after she pled guilty to one count of wire fraud.

● In December 2024, Ada Irma Rodriguez Fontaine, age 59, from Auburndale, Florida, formerly of Storm Lake, Iowa, and Cuba, was sentenced to six months of imprisonment and ordered to pay $75,417 in restitution, after she pled guilty to one count of wire fraud.

● In May 2025, Yordanis Perez Velazquez, age 41, from Tampa, Florida, formerly of Algona, Iowa, and Cuba, was sentenced to five months of imprisonment and ordered to pay $111,195 in restitution, after he pled guilty to one count of wire fraud.

● In July 2025, Maikel Sanchez Garcia, age 44, from Tampa, Florida, formerly of Algona, Iowa, and Cuba, was sentenced to 11 months of imprisonment and ordered to pay $138,662 in restitution, after he pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.

Ciero was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Ciero was sentenced to 48 months' imprisonment. He was ordered to make $212,293 in restitution to the SBA. He must also serve a two-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Ciero is being held in the United States Marshal's custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Timothy L. Vavricek and Daniel A. Chatham and investigated by the Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Storm Lake Police Department.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 24-CR-3013.

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