SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB/Gray News) — A social media influencer who scammed the federal government out of $1 million in disaster loans during the pandemic has learned her prison sentence.
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Danielle Miller was sentenced Monday to 16 years in prison by a Sarasota Circuit Court judge.
Miller pleaded guilty to 38 counts of fraudulently using personal identification information.
Prosecutors said Miller came to Florida during the pandemic in 2020. She traveled to Sarasota with Ciera Blas, a co-defendant.
In an elaborate scheme, Miller used other people’s identities to defraud banks throughout the state.
The scam unraveled when an alert manager notified the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, which ultimately arrested Miller.
In 2023, Miller was also convicted in federal court in Boston of fraudulently obtaining more than $1 million in pandemic-related loans using the stolen identities of more than 10 people.
She then used those funds for personal expenses, including chartering a private jet and renting a luxury apartment. She was sentenced to five years in federal prison.
Investigators said Miller communicated with people in countries as far away as Nigeria to pay for personal information obtained through mail theft, phishing attacks and social engineering.
Afterward, Miller used her extensive criminal network to obtain credit reports, driver’s licenses and credit cards of people from all over the United States.
Miller would drain the accounts or use the credit cards to purchase luxury items. In one instance, she rented a waterside villa in Miami at the cost of $27,000 a month.
After her arrest, Miller gained notoriety as the subject of an article in New York Magazine and several television documentaries.
In the New York Magazine story, Miller described herself as a “con artist.”
According to NBC News, Miller had more than 34,000 followers on Instagram. Her page appears to have been removed.
Instagram influencer who described herself as a ‘con artist’ gets 16 years in prison for identity theft, bank fraud
