A former ATF analyst who stole COVID-19 relief funds by making bogus claims was sentenced recently in Oakland County Circuit Court.

Tiesha Johnson, formerly of Farmington Hills, was handed an 11-month delayed sentence by Judge Michael Warren for three felony counts of false pretenses.- $1,000 to $20,000. Johnson pleaded no contest to the charges in August.

The delayed sentence’s terms require her to pay $34,675 in restitution and be monitored for the next 11 months. She is to return to court next September to ensure the terms have been followed.

Johnson, 56, fraudulently obtained the funds through three loans while she was a federal employee for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Two were PPP loans, intended for payroll expense coverage for businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The other was an EIDL, intended to help small businesses recover from economic impacts endured during the pandemic.

The charges are punishable by up to five years in prison and a hefty fine.

Johnson allegedly had a business but no employees or payroll expenses. She was arrested in Dallas, Texas and extradited to Michigan last December.