An Instagram influencer who prosecutors say used the personal information of a Massachusetts resident to fraudulently obtain a pandemic-related federal loan that she then used to charter a private jet to California and stay at luxury hotels has pleaded guilty.
Danielle Miller, 32, of Miami, Florida, pleaded guilty Monday to fraudulently obtaining over $1 million in pandemic related loans using the stolen identities of more than 10 people and then using those funds for personal expenses, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston.
She pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 27, the U.S. attorney's office said. She was initially arrested in May of 2021 and indicted by a federal grand jury in July of 2021.
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According to prosecutors, Miller executed a scheme from July 2020 through May 2021 to fraudulently obtain COVID pandemic relief loans funded by the federal government, including Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds through the U.S. Small Business Administration and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and related unemployment benefits. She used stolen identities and fake business names to apply for and receive more than $1 million in government benefits.
She also possessed counterfeit driver's licenses in the victims names but with her own photograph. In August 2020, prosecutors said she used a counterfeit driver's license in the name of an Abington, Massachusetts victim to arrange a Gulfstream private jet charter flight from Florida to California, where she stayed at a luxury hotel under the same victim's name.
In a separate instance, she used the identity of another victim to rent a luxury apartment in Florida. She then posted pictures of herself at the hotels on Instagram, prosecutors said.
"Miller maintained an active social media presence via her Instagram account, which had more than 34,000 followers," the U.S. attorney's office said in a release. "There, Miller posted her extravagant use of the fraud proceeds and stolen identities, publicizing her purchasing of luxury goods and renting of luxury accommodations. Posts to this account included a post showing Miller at luxury hotels in California where transactions were made using the bank account in one of the victim’s names."
The wire fraud charges carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 and the charges of aggravated identity theft provide for a mandatory sentence of two years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
