A Minnesota businessman was sentenced on Monday to seven years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $3.5 million for his role in defrauding more than $6 million from pandemic relief programs.

In February, Tezzaree El-Amin Champion pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering and illegally possessing a firearm as a felon. 

Prosecutors say he used his position as a leader of Futuristic Management LLC, a marketing company, and Encouraging Leaders, a nonprofit, to submit grants. 

Court documents say Encouraging Leaders submitted dozens of grants to the U.S. Department of Justice, Hennepin County, the Centers for Disease Control Foundation and the Minnesota State Arts Board, among others. The applications contained false statements, and though the organization was awarded $2.7 million, Champion transferred "significant portions" of the funding to his own accounts. As a result, Encouraging Leaders only received $1.5 million.

Prosecutors also say Champion recruited clients for Futuristic Management and submitted fraudulent applications to Hennepin County's Small Business Relief grant program. In total, court documents say Futuristic Management resulted in a loss of more than $2.1 million.

During a search of Champion's home, investigators found Futuristic Management financial records, a safe containing $127,000 and a revolver with his DNA on it. Champion is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition due to a 2018 conviction of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.

Champion was also sentenced to five years of supervised release, which will be served after his prison sentence.