The federal pandemic relief fraud trial of Zipora Hudson and Montreal Hudson has been continued again, according to court documents.
The case is now scheduled for trial starting at 9:40 a.m. on Oct. 21 in Courtroom 3 East on the third floor of the U.S. Federal Building in Oxford, with U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills presiding.
The trial was originally set for April 8, but Mills granted a defense request for continuance to July 24. On July 3, Mills allowed a second postponement.
“Counsel states additional time is needed in order to continue to review the voluminous discovery with his client in preparation for plea or trial,” Mills wrote then.
Zipora Hudson, 47, is charged with three counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, all felony charges.
Montreal Hudson, 30, is charged with two counts of wire fraud, and one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
A third defendant in the case, Deandre Jones, 31, struck a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces a Sept. 19 sentencing hearing before Mills, where he could be sentenced to a maximum 50 years imprisonment and fined up to $750,000. As part of the plea agreement, according to court documents, 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 trio were named in a Jan. 25 federal indictment alleging that they helped customers of Zippy Bee’s Tax Service in Charleston to falsify and fabricate information on applications that resulted in nearly two-dozen “fraudulently obtained” Paycheck Protection Plan loans totaling $491,893.
For their services, the indictment charged, the borrowers paid a portion of the PPP funds received to the defendants, those fees ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 per loan.
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