Judge postpones Olympian's sentencing for defrauding PPP

A judge was supposed to decide Tuesday whether to send a former Olympic speed skater to prison for unlawfully obtaining $10 million from the Paycheck Protection Program. But in a surprise ruling, the judge postponed her sentencing.

Last year, a jury convicted Allison Baver on two counts of making false statements designed to influence a bank , one count of money laundering, and one count of contempt.

Prosecutors wanted 6-and-a-half years in prison for Baver. Her attorneys asked federal Judge Jill Parrish for no prison and instead to sentence her to three years of supervised release.

Baver’s sentencing hearing was postponed indefinitely Tuesday afternoon because Parrish was worried that her defense attorneys had been ineffective.

Parrish was choking up almost from the moment she took the bench. She said she had been losing sleep over this case because she thought Baver’s trial attorneys — public defenders — were “not constitutionally effective.”

The judge questioned aloud whether the lawyers employed any real strategies during the trial back in June 2023. She then agreed to postpone the sentencing to give Baver time to file motions for a new trial.

Baver was represented at trial and again Tuesday by public defenders. She herself was choking up and hugging one of those public defenders after the hearing.

CASE BACKGROUND

In 2020, Baver’s entertainment company received a $10 million loan through the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP. Allison Baver Entertainment reported having 430 employees.

Yet federal prosecutors contended she had no employees and used the money in ways that were not authorized by the program.

In the court filing where they made their sentencing recommendation, Baver’s attorneys continued to argue the criteria for PPP was confusing, that Baver intended to make movies with the money, but the pandemic shut down film productions and then government seized $9.5 million of the money she received.

Defense attorneys also say she has been diagnosed with a mild neurocognitive disorder due to multiple traumatic brain injuries suffered during skating falls as well as multiple car accidents. Baver, 44, has also been diagnosed with a personality disorder with strong features of narcissism, an attorney wrote.

Baver won bronze in the 3,000-meter relay at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

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