Leon Delima, 35, of Burlington, pleaded guilty Dec. 5 in federal court in Burlington to gun possession and fraud charges in two cases.
A statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office says Delima devised a plan to fraudulently obtain COVID-relief funds from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). In April 2021, Delima successfully obtained a $17,833 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan from the SBA by claiming that he operated a marketing consulting business from which he had earned $85,600 annually.
In fact, Delima had no such business. He spent the loan funds over a two-week period for consumer goods, life expenses, and non-business items, including high-end sneakers, authorities say.
With the April 2021 loan funds exhausted, in July 2021, Delima applied for a second SBA loan, this time claiming he operated a 45-employee pet-grooming business with gross revenues of $300,000 for the year prior to January 2020. SBA denied the second loan application.
Also,on July 2, 2022, Delima, who was previously convicted of a felony offense, possessed a firearm that he fired into the air as he was walking along North Avenue in Burlington. Delima threw the gun aside before law enforcement could respond to the gunshots.
Delima pleaded guilty today to three offenses—wire fraud, which carries a maximum 20-year sentence; making a false statement in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive branch of the U.S. government, which carries a 5-year maximum sentence; and being a felon in possession of a firearm, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.
Delima’s criminal record includes felony convictions for criminal possession of a loaded firearm in New York in 2006, possession of cocaine in Chittenden County in 2013, and sale of cocaine in Chittenden County in 2018, court records show.