The sentencing hearing of Deandre Jones, a defendant in a federal pandemic relief fraud case, has been delayed until February.
According to a Nov. 19 amended order on file with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills moved the sentencing date for Jones to Feb. 20, 2025, at 2 p.m.
Jones, 31, had struck a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering during a June 13 plea hearing.
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He had faced a Dec. 12 sentencing hearing before Mills, but last month's order delays the sentencing for a little over two months.
Jones could be sentenced to a maximum 50 years imprisonment and fined up to $750,000. As part of the plea agreement, Jones also would forfeit “all right, title and interest” he has in “certain real and personal property,” specifically naming real property in the Forest Hill Subdivision in DeSoto County, a 2022 Dodge Ram 3500 Tradesman crew cab pickup and a 2015 BMW coupe.
The pandemic relief fraud case also involves two other individuals, Zipora Hudson, 48, and her adult son Montreal Hudson, 30, both with Tallahatchie County ties.
The three were named in a January 2024 federal indictment.
All three defendants initially entered a plea of not guilty.
