PHOTOS: Former Arizona News Anchor Stephanie Hockridge Sentenced to 10 Years for $300M COVID Loan Fraud Scheme

Former Arizona news anchor Stephanie Hockridge-Reis has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for her role in a massive COVID-era PPP loan fraud scheme that prosecutors say allowed her and her husband to pocket more than $300 million through fraudulent applications.

Hockridge, 40, a former anchor at Phoenix’s ABC15, was sentenced on November 21, 2025, by a Texas federal judge to 120 months in prison. She must report to the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas — a minimum-security facility that houses high-profile inmates including Ghislaine Maxwell and Elizabeth Holmes — by December 30, 2025.

In addition to prison time, Hockridge was ordered to pay nearly $64 million in restitution, shared jointly with her co-defendants, and will serve two years of supervised release.

Conviction for Wire Fraud Conspiracy

Hockridge was convicted in June 2025 of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, though she was acquitted of four additional wire fraud charges.

According to the Department of Justice, Hockridge and her husband, Nathan Reis, 47, founded a lender service company called Blueacorn in 2020. The company marketed itself as a service to help small businesses obtain PPP loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former Arizona News Anchor Stephanie Hockridge Sentenced to 10 Years for $300M COVID Loan Fraud Scheme

Behind the scenes, federal investigators say, the couple created fake tax forms, payroll documents, and bank statements to inflate loan amounts for applicants and collect lucrative processing fees. Some loan recipients allegedly had no employees at all.

Blueacorn’s leadership reportedly pushed employees to prioritize speed over accuracy, while Hockridge recruited “VIPPP agents” who coached borrowers on how to submit fraudulent PPP applications.

A text message revealed in court showed Hockridge joking about the fraud:

“This is us trying to apply for free money — when we don’t quite qualify. lol,” she wrote to her husband.

In one $300,000 loan application, Reis falsely claimed to be both a veteran and African American, prosecutors said.

A $12.5 Billion Operation

At the height of PPP lending in 2021, Blueacorn’s partner lenders processed nearly three times more loans than major banks including J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America.

In total, Blueacorn processed more than $12.5 billion in loans — enabling company owners, including Hockridge, to capture up to $300 million in revenue while spending almost nothing on fraud prevention measures.

A congressional report later found that Blueacorn regularly charged illegal “success fees” and failed to vet applications in accordance with SBA rules.

Prosecutors: ‘She exploited a national emergency’

Federal prosecutors described the scheme as one of the largest PPP fraud cases ever.

“This defendant exploited a national emergency to personally profit from a taxpayer-funded program intended to support vulnerable individuals and small businesses,” Justice Department official Matthew R. Galeotti said.

Hockridge’s Defense

Hockridge argued that she believed she was helping small businesses during a chaotic and confusing federal rollout. She maintained that her intentions were “a sincere effort to support small businesses,” but the jury rejected her defense.

Reis, her husband and business partner, accepted a plea deal in August and is scheduled to be sentenced in December.

She will be locked up at the same minimum-security facility that houses Jeffrey Epstein’s madam and notorious sex trafficker Ghisliane Maxwell.

 

Background

Hockridge spent seven years as an anchor at KNXV-TV (ABC15 Phoenix) and previously worked as a reporter for CBS News Radio in London. She was once nominated for an Emmy and was named “Favorite Newscaster” by Arizona Foothills Magazine.

Before their indictment in 2024, the couple had relocated to Puerto Rico.

Sentence

Hockridge’s 10-year sentence represents half of the 20-year maximum for the crime of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

She must report to federal prison on December 30, 2025.