Crivitz man sentenced to federal prison for PPP fraud, illegally receiving $20,833 from government

Kevin Dittman and Kelli Arseneau, Green Bay Press-Gazette
Updated ·3 min read

A Crivitz man will spend 18 months in federal prison for lying on his application for the Paycheck Protection Program, a judge ruled Monday in Green Bay.

Robert J. Solberg, 39, pleaded guilty in May to "knowingly and willfully" making false statements "within the jurisdiction of the executive branch of the United States government," according to court records.

According to court records, Solberg falsely declared on his PPP application, sent to the U.S. Small Business Administration, that he had not been indicted on any felony charges or pled guilty to any felonies. As a result, he received $20,833 from the government as part of the program.

The Paycheck Protection Program is a federal program established by the CARES Act. It provided funds to small businesses, of up to eight weeks of payroll costs including benefits, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Solberg filled out the application around Aug. 4, 2020, court records say. He had pleaded guilty six months earlier to charge of conspiring to commit odometer tampering. According to court records for that case, between May 2018 and 2019 Solberg conspired with another man, Joshua Taylor, of Green Bay, to tamper with odometers on vehicles with high mileage to make the vehicles appear to have been driven less, then sell them on Craigslist, misleading buyers about how much the vehicles were worth. The two had sold approximately 22 used cars with altered odometers, court record show.

At Solberg's sentencing hearing, Senior U.S. District Judge William C. Griesbach "rejected Solberg's claim," that he did not understand how he was supposed to answer questions on the grant application, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Griesbach "determined that an 18-month term in federal prison was required to send a message to Solberg that theft from government programs, especially while awaiting sentencing on another criminal matter, would result in serious consequences," according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Solberg's sentence consisted of nine months in prison for the count of fraud and an additional months because he committed the crime while on release from bail in the odometer tampering case.

After serving his prison term, Solberg will be required to spend three years on supervised release.

The loan fraud case was investigated by the FBI.

Solberg, formerly of Green Bay, was sentenced in August 2020 to four months in prison and two years of supervision in the odometer-fraud case, reports say.

Solberg's brother, John Solberg, was sentenced in January to 2½ years in federal prison for defrauding sellers and purchasers of vehicles at used car dealerships he owned in Suamico and Kaukauna. Taylor was sentenced in July 2020 to 18 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his role in the odometer tampering case.

Contact Kevin Dittman at 920-431-8416 or kdittman@gannett.com. Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com.

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Crivitz man sentenced to federal prison for PPP fraud in Green Bay