Detroit man to serve 7 1/2 years in prison for $16M federal student aid scheme

A Detroit man will serve 7 1/2 years in federal prison for his role in a $16 million fraud scheme that involved both federal student aid and pandemic-era assistance programs, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. 

Brandon Robinson, 42, of Detroit, was sentenced on Wednesday to 92 months in prison, with three years of supervised release afterward, on a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.  

He was also ordered to pay $10.5 million in restitution to the U.S. Department of Education over federal student aid funds and $1.3 million in restitution to various state agencies of Michigan over pandemic unemployment assistance. 

Robinson is accused of orchestrating the scheme, according to the U.S. attorney's office.  

Two others have already been sentenced. Antonio Robinson, 37, of Ferndale, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison and Joshuan Porter, 36, of Detroit, was sentenced to just under 4 1/2 years in federal prison. 

"These defendants stole more than $16 million from federal programs designed to assist students and unemployed Americans," said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Department of Justice's National Fraud Enforcement Division. 

Federal prosecutors say that between January 2015 and February 2024, Robinson submitted student aid claims for 1,200 people at more than 100 schools in 24 states. The other two defendants served as middlemen, ferrying information and kickbacks. Officials say the scheme involved a group called the "straw students," who were enrolled for the sole purpose of receiving aid. 

"These defendants thought federal programs were easy money. They were wrong," said U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr.  

Agencies and teams involved in the investigation included the Department of Justice's National Fraud Enforcement Division, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.