‘Fraud, deceit and lying’ lands Macon, Milledgeville business owners in prison
Two Middle Georgia defendants who defrauded the government of $2 million were sentenced to over five years in prison, a federal judge ruled Tuesday morning.
James Frank Austin Jr. and Rosalend Way were found guilty of using $2 million for personal expenses, including luxury cars, from the Paycheck Protection Program, which was meant to help small businesses struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a sentencing hearing before Judge Marc Treadwell Tuesday.
The case was riddled with “so much fraud, deceit and lying,” Treadwell said.
Austin pleaded guilty to all his charges including bank fraud, money laundering and conspiring to commit wire fraud. Way went to trial, where a jury found her guilty of conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Austin said he accepted all responsibility for his actions, but Way argued she was innocent.
“One day the truth will come out,” Way told Treadwell in tears. “God, please help me tell the truth.”
Prosecutors referenced evidence that found Way orchestrated the scheme. Her signature was found on most of the incriminating documents, prosecutors said. Both Way and Austin used the money from the pandemic relief loans to pay off Way’s Mercedes-Benz car and Austin’s Bentley car, according to prosecutors.
Way and Austin were ordered to serve five years and three months in prison. They were ordered to pay over $1 million in restitution to the Small Business Administration, court records show.
Way told Treadwell she would appeal the sentence.
3 fraudulent PPP applications
Austin applied for three loans and exaggerated the amounts of money needed for to pay wages for employees on behalf of the Austin Smith Center for Community Development, prosecutors said. The nonprofit supported economically disadvantaged communities in Macon, its website says.
Austin claimed there were 15 employees and an average monthly payroll of $654,515, according to a loan application he filed on May 9, 2020, according to court records. He also provided a 2019 tax form that showed he had 26 employees who were paid a total of $649,908. He was awarded a $654,315 loan, according to prosecutors.
Way then filed another loan application on June 21, 2020, on behalf of the Propel Opportunity Fund, an investment company owned by Way. Documents in the application claimed that the company had 18 employees with an average monthly payroll of $420,558, according to prosecutors. The application claimed they needed the funds to make payroll and pay their mortgage interests and utilities, prosecutors said. Austin also claimed that they paid close to $5 million in wages in 2019.
They were awarded over $1 million for the June 2020 application.
A third application submitted again on behalf of the opportunity fund claimed that the company had a monthly payroll of $149,000 and nearly $4.9 million in wages in 2019, court records said. They received $375,500 in loans, according to prosecutors.
As a result of the fraudulent applications, both Austin and Way were given over $2.08 million in loans.
The IRS established that they never filed the tax forms attached to the application, and the bank statements didn’t match the payroll, court documents said. Further, the money intended for expenses relating to the companies was spent on retail, gas and groceries, including financing Way’s Mercedes-Benz and Austin’s Bentley.
This story was originally published December 2, 2025 at 2:34 PM.
