A promotional products distributor accused of a COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) scam and also of lying to illegally obtain coronavirus-related business relief loans has been sentenced to time-served and three years of supervised release – and ordered to pay $52,100 in restitution.

John Anthony Taylor received the sentence from Judge David Sam in federal court in Utah after pleading guilty to making a false statement on a loan/credit application as part of a plea deal with the federal government. 

Prosecutors had called for Taylor to serve a year in jail.

“The recommended sentence of 12 months will provide a just punishment for Taylor and reflect the seriousness of his offense,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing. “Taylor acted with greed and deception during a time when people were desperate, fearful and vulnerable. He fraudulently took advantages of emergency government loan programs and took money that should have gone to others who qualified and had legitimate need.”

While prosecutors pressed for a 12-month imprisonment, they did agree to drop a wire fraud charge tied to a 2020 case in which Taylor was accused of perpetuating a PPE scam at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

In that case, Taylor claimed to have access to millions of N95 respirator masks from 3M when he did not have the masks or such access, according to the FBI. Not an authorized 3M dealer, Taylor made false representations, including emailing a fake purchase order from 3M, and attempting to execute a bogus mask sale with an undercover FBI agent, authorities alleged.

The false statement charge to which Taylor admitted guilt stems from a case filed in 2022.

Already facing the wire fraud charge, Taylor got in more trouble with federal prosecutors in March last year for lying about his criminal record to obtain a loan of about $36,500 from the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and $15,600 from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

In applying for the PPP loan, Taylor certified that he was not “subject to an indictment, criminal information, arraignment, or other means by which formal criminal charges are brought in any jurisdiction” and was not presently on probation or parole. In reality, however, he was on pretrial probation for the 2020 wire fraud case.

Once Taylor had the government money, he allegedly spent $22,007 of it on a GMC Sierra. Such an expense is not allowed under the terms of the loans, which were designed to help keep businesses afloat amid the economic crash of the COVID-19 pandemic. At sentencing, the court found $16,200 in lieu of the Sierra was subject to forfeiture.

Federal authorities have identified Taylor as the owner of Utah-based Positive Marketing LLC and WasatchPromotionalProducts.com. Positive Marketing is not an ASI-listed distributor; Wasatch had been ASI-listed but was terminated prior to any of the allegations. Taylor’s LinkedIn profile also identifies him as the owner of BindersNow.com, which is not ASI-listed.