A man who bilked the federal government out of pandemic relief funds while pretending to be a diplomat just got 27 months in prison.
Scott Lee Huss, operating online under the alias Jryako, was sentenced after being indicted in February 2025 on wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and impersonating a foreign diplomat. Federal prosecutors say he submitted fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans—relief money Congress created to help businesses survive COVID-19.
In July 2020, Huss filed PPP and EIDL applications through four Florida companies he owned: Leadecom LLC, Apex Marketing Inc., Supremo Sociedad Anonima LLC, and Temple of the Tao Inc. The applications were packed with lies. He falsely inflated employee counts and annual revenues at each business. The scheme worked. Six wire transfers totaling $609,134 hit Florida bank accounts connected to Huss.
He spent $148,000 of the stolen money on a 2019 Lamborghini. More cash went elsewhere—the indictment details two fictitious checks mailed in December 2023, one for $120,000 and another for $190,564, though prosecutors didn't specify what he used those for.
The impersonation charges stem from Huss embracing sovereign citizen ideology, a fringe legal theory that rejects government authority. The irony is thick: Huss had no problem taking federal welfare while simultaneously denying the government's legitimacy.
That disconnect became impossible to ignore in March 2024 when Florida police pulled over an Audi with fake diplomatic plates. Huss was in the passenger seat. His girlfriend, Cecilia Selina Mercado, was driving. The plates claimed to be non-expiring and identified Mercado as a non-citizen—total fabrication.
When officers asked for her driver's license, Mercado handed them a passport instead. Officers told her to step out. She refused. Police extracted her from the vehicle anyway.
Huss, recording on his phone, started yelling that he felt threatened and demanded a supervisor. As an officer held Mercado's arm, Huss erupted, telling the cops they'd lose their jobs and be forced to pay Mercado $250,000 in court. "They have no jurisdiction over you," he told his girlfriend. "She is not a United States citizen," he insisted to the officers.
The officers weren't buying it. Neither did the feds.
🤖 Quick Answer
Who is Scott Lee Huss and what was he sentenced for?Scott Lee Huss, also known online by the alias Jryako, is an American man sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and impersonating a foreign diplomat. He fraudulently obtained pandemic relief funds, including Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan proceeds, using falsified business applications submitted in July 2020.
What fraudulent schemes did Scott Lee Huss carry out?
Huss submitted fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) through four Florida-based companies he owned: Leadecom LLC, Apex Marketing Inc., Supremo Sociedad Anonima LLC, and Temple of the Tao Inc. He falsely inflated employee counts
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