A former Phoenix news anchor who once delivered the day’s most important stories will spend the next decade behind bars for orchestrating one of the most brazen exploitations of COVID-19 relief programs in American history.
Story Highlights
- Stephanie Hockridge sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for $64 million PPP loan fraud scheme
- Former ABC15 Phoenix anchor must report to Texas prison camp days after Christmas
- Blueacorn company processed billions in fraudulent pandemic relief loans using fake documents
- Case represents massive breach of public trust by media figure during national emergency
The Anchor Who Became the Story
Stephanie Hockridge spent years as the face of ABC15 Phoenix, delivering trusted news to Arizona families. Now she faces a different kind of spotlight after a federal judge sentenced her to a decade in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The November 21st sentencing requires her to report to Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas by December 30th, turning what should be a holiday season into the beginning of a long reckoning.
Federal prosecutors painted a picture of calculated deception that exploited Americans’ pandemic suffering for personal gain. The Department of Justice called her actions a betrayal of “a taxpayer-funded program intended to support vulnerable individuals and small businesses” during the nation’s darkest economic hour since the Great Depression.
Blueacorn’s Billion-Dollar Deception Machine
Hockridge and her husband Nathan Reis founded Blueacorn in 2020, positioning it as a legitimate processor of Paycheck Protection Program loans. What emerged was something far more sinister. The company processed billions in PPP applications, often outpacing major banks in volume. This wasn’t efficiency—it was systematic fraud on an industrial scale.
Court documents reveal Blueacorn’s employees coached loan applicants on creating false payroll records, fabricated tax documents, and manufactured bank statements to inflate loan amounts. The operation recruited referral agents who steered unsuspecting businesses into submitting fraudulent applications. Each fake document represented stolen taxpayer dollars meant for legitimately struggling small businesses fighting to survive lockdowns.
The Sixty-Four Million Dollar Betrayal
The restitution order of nearly $64 million reflects the staggering scope of Hockridge’s criminal enterprise. This figure represents not just financial theft but a profound violation of the public trust that news anchors traditionally hold. Americans invite journalists into their homes each evening, expecting honesty and integrity. Hockridge exploited that trust while simultaneously defrauding the government programs designed to help her viewers survive unprecedented economic hardship.
The timing makes this betrayal particularly galling. While Hockridge reported on pandemic struggles facing Arizona families and businesses, she was simultaneously orchestrating schemes to steal relief funds meant for those same communities. Her criminal conduct transformed a platform meant to serve the public good into a launching pad for personal enrichment at taxpayers’ expense.
Justice Delayed But Not Denied
Hockridge’s conviction in June followed a thorough federal investigation that exposed the sophisticated nature of her fraud network. The postponement of her original October sentencing date only prolonged the inevitable accountability that conservative Americans demand when trusted figures betray their responsibilities. Her husband Nathan Reis accepted a plea deal and awaits his own December sentencing, completing the dismantling of their criminal partnership.
The Federal Prison Camp Bryan represents an appropriate destination for Hockridge’s incarceration—a minimum-security facility that houses white-collar criminals who exploited positions of trust for financial gain. Her decade-long sentence sends a clear message that pandemic profiteering by public figures will face the full weight of federal justice, regardless of previous celebrity status or community standing.
Sources:
Former News Anchor Ordered to Start 10-Year Prison Sentence
Economic Times Coverage of Hockridge Case
