Defendants sentenced to prison in COVID-19 employment tax credit fraud scheme

Date: May 15, 2026

Contact: [email protected]

Greeneville, TN. - On May 14, 2026, Edward Zanes of Kingsport, Tennessee the last of three defendants charged in an extensive COVID-19 employment tax credit fraud scheme, was sentenced to 65 months in prison by the Honorable Judge Clifton Corker, United States District Judge, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Following his release, Zanes will be on supervised release for three years.

This sentence follows an 84-month term of prison imposed earlier this year on co-defendant, Ryan Glidewell of Kingsport, Tennessee and a 50-month prison term imposed last year on co-defendant, Alyssa Glidewell of Kingsport, Tennessee for their respective roles in the fraud scheme. Both co-defendants will be on supervised release for three years following their release from imprisonment. Judge Corker also ordered the three to pay $1,806,637 in restitution to the United States.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Ryan Glidewell, Alyssa Glidewell, Edward Zanes, and others, conspired to file false tax returns seeking refunds based on the Employee Retention Credit and paid Sick and Family Leave Credit, both of which were created by Congress to aid struggling businesses during the COVID-19 global pandemic. The defendants, led by Ryan Glidewell, created at least eleven phony businesses, which lacked any employees or operations, for the sole purpose of falsely claiming the credits. Members of the conspiracy then filed numerous false tax returns for those businesses and directed the tax refunds to be mailed to addresses controlled by conspirators.

In total, the false returns filed from the eleven sham businesses claimed over $3.4 million in tax refunds, of which the IRS paid $1.8 million.

"The defendants in this case exploited governmental efforts to assist businesses during a time of unprecedented uncertainty," said U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III for the Eastern District of Tennessee. "The U.S. Attorney's Office, together with our law enforcement partners, will continue to vigorously prosecute individuals that steal from the citizenry through tax fraud."

"Edward Zanes and his co-conspirators created fake companies, filed fraudulent tax forms, and tried to steal from programs meant to help Americans during the pandemic," said Donald "Trey" Eakins, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Charlotte Field Office. "IRS CI special agents, together with our law enforcement partners, will continue to uncover COVID-19 relief fraud and hold anyone who files false tax returns fully accountable."

IRS Criminal Investigation and the United States Secret Service investigated the case.

Assistant United States Attorneys Ryan Blackwell and Mac Heavener, and Trial Attorney Zachary A. Cobb formerly with the Justice Department's Tax Division, represented the United States.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.