PHENIX CITY, Ala. (WIAT) — A 39-year-old man from Phenix City will serve nearly eight years in prison after pleading guilty to a COVID-19 relief scheme worth millions of dollars.

On Monday, Nathan Carlisle was sentenced to 92 months in prison on wire fraud and money laundering convictions.

According to prosecutors, Carlisle applied for 23 loans through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program between July 2020 and April 2021. Carlisle, who has two felony convictions out of Russell County, was ultimately funded through five of the loans requests.

“Carlisle made multiple false statements and misrepresentations in his applications, including the businesses’ revenue, the number of employees, and that he had no felony convictions in the last five years,” the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama released in a statement. “Carlisle further admitted to submitting forged documents with the applications including fake or altered business licenses.”

Through the scheme, Carlisle received $600,000 for four separate applications, although the total amount sought was over $3.4 million. Carlisle was also convicted of money laundering for using the illegal proceeds to purchase a vehicle, among other unauthorized personal expenses.

As part of his sentence, Carlisle will also be required to pay $547,846.54 in restitution to the Small Business Administration, as well as paying the same amount to the federal government.

“Kyle Carlisle fabricated lies and forged documents in a scheme to divert taxpayer money for his own self-enrichment,” Acting U.S. Attorney Kevin P. Davidson said in a statement. “The EIDL program was intended to provide relief to actual struggling businesses during a pandemic that created an enormous economic burden on the entire country. My office remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to aggressively pursue those who engage in activities that threaten the integrity of government programs.”