Opinion : When Shootin' Your Shot Hits You Right in the Foot

As I open the email each morning, sometimes I run across something that makes me chuckle. Now fraud isn't usually one of them. However, when you run across a fraudster that is so dumb, well, you have to shake your head and laugh. 

One such fraud named Joshua Johnson, a man of 34, received a two year sentence for being dumb. In legalese, he was sentenced to Federal Prison for Laundering Pandemic Loan Money. On December 1, 2025, he pled guilty to one count of "engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from specified unlawful activity."

Johnson admitted that, in June 2021, he received $20,208 fraudulently as part of the  Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”).  The PPP was a forgivable loan program that Congress enacted in 2020 to help small businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Johnson’s PPP loan application falsely stated that he was a barber who had earned nearly $100,000 in 2020.

Now, that's a lot of hair cutting going on. 

Johnson directed the PPP money to be deposited into a bank account in Cedar Rapids.  By 10:00 a.m. on the morning of the deposit, the first fraudulently obtained government money arrived in his account. Johnson being the brilliant type, withdrew $20,000 in cash. 

The upstanding fellow said that he owed child support and knew the money could be garnished from his account.  Between 2021 and 2024, Johnson was in and out of prison in Indiana for failing to meet his child support obligations.

Like the prodigal son, Johnson blew the money on his own version of "riotous living" which ultimately led to his downfall. He spent the remainder of the PPP loan money on fast food, at gas stations, and for home food delivery. 

When the money was gone, he applied for loan forgiveness In August 2021, telling the government that he had spent the $20,208 from the loan on “Payroll Costs.” 

Federal Agents got a little sus when they asked Johnson why his PPP loan application had false statements about his purported income as a barber, Johnson told them that  he was just “shootin’ [his] shot.”  

Johnson is a convicted felon with a criminal history in Iowa and Indiana with convictions that include resisting law enforcement, theft, domestic-abuse assault, possession of controlled substances, and nonsupport of a dependent child.

I guess, criminals are just gonna criminal. It seems that a background check should apply to government programs, but obviously they don't. 

Johnson was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand to 30 months’ imprisonment. Then he was ordered to make $20,208 in restitution to the United States Small Business Administration. After that, he will serve a two-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

Johnson was released on the bond and is to surrender to the United States Marshal on May 19, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. 

I have little hope in the justice system, anymore, I guess. But then I compare this to more heinous crimes that I've seen. Like injuries by spouses, crimes against children, grown adults stealing and "witnesses" being believed over actual facts. Some people like this are still free to walk among us, so I really can't blame Mr. Johnson for "shootin' his shot." 

Unfortunately for Johnson, he fought the law, and the law won...if he shows up to do his time, that is.