Hung jury for Broward detention deputy charged with PPP loan fraud

A federal jury in Broward County could not reach unanimous agreement this week over a former Broward Sheriff’s Office detention deputy accused of lying to the federal government to obtain a Paycheck Protection Program loan during the COVID-19 crisis.

Carolyn Denise Wade, 49, was one of 17 deputies at the Broward Sheriff’s Office who, according to investigators, falsified paperwork to collect money under government programs meant to help keep small businesses alive.

Wade, who worked in one of the Broward jails, had a side job as a beautician and would not have qualified for the $20,833 loan she received because her business had lost money prior to the pandemic, said her lawyer, Johnny McCray. Prosecutors said she lied on a tax form to make her business seem profitable when it wasn’t.

But McCray argued that Wade did not fill out the tax form and did not realize the error.

Jurors deliberated for nine hours over two days before telling Federal District Court Judge Donald Graham they were unable and unlikely to reach unanimous agreement late Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s bittersweet. The jury didn’t find her guilty,” McCray said Wednesday. “I’m just hopeful that they drop this prosecution and decide not to go forward with it.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not issue a comment about the hung verdict and mistrial. Prosecutors can and usually do try cases multiple times before finding a unanimous jury. McCray said he hoped both sides could reach an agreement that would not require a new trial.

Collectively the 17 Broward Sheriff’s employees improperly obtained $495,171 from the loan programs, prosecutors said when announcing their arrests. At least one former deputy had been found guilty, and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29 before U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn. As of March, about a dozen others had pleaded guilty and were ordered to rebate the money they received back to the government while receiving probation of between a year to five years.

Details about the other cases were not available late Wednesday.

Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.