Former Small Business Administration worker sentenced for stealing identities of people who applied for loans

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (FOX 2) - A former Small Business Administration employee whose job was to help people apply for diaster-related loans was sentenced to prison for identity theft.

Jay David Soulliere Jr., 28, of Grand Rapids, received a 51-month prison sentence, three years of supervised release, and must pay more than $18,000 in restitution.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit identity theft and aggravated identity theft in October. 

Soulliere was a disaster recovery specialist for the Small Business Administration from September 2020 until March 2021, officials said. According to authorities, in fall 2020, he stole information about two people who had applied for loans from the SBA computer system.

That information was given to Matthew Moore Vodak Jr., who used it to commit identity theft. Officials said he bought a Land Rover with a fraudulent check and driver’s license, took over a credit card, applied for loans and credit, and made fake identification documents. 

Vodak was previously sentenced to 39 months in prison, two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay more than $18,000 in restitution.

"Government employees are routinely entrusted with the public’s personal information, and they owe a duty of care to protect that information," said U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge.  "This defendant thought his government job gave him permission to steal the identities of people already suffering the economic consequences of a pandemic.  We take insider threats seriously and will hold public servants accountable for abusing the public’s trust.