A former St. Louis lawyer, John J. Diehl Jr., was sentenced on March 9 to 21 months in prison and fined $50,000 after pleading guilty to committing $379,900 in pandemic-related fraud.
The case highlights ongoing efforts by federal authorities to address misuse of funds intended for small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program was created to help struggling businesses with deferred, low-interest loans for working capital and other expenses caused by the pandemic.
According to court records, Diehl applied for an EIDL loan on behalf of his law firm in March 2020 and received $94,900. He later requested a modification in March 2022 and obtained an additional $285,000. Prosecutors said Diehl pledged that the funds would be used to alleviate economic injury but instead diverted them for personal use.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith said in court that Diehl’s law practice did not suffer during the pandemic and that none of the loan money was used for the firm. “This defendant’s law practice didn’t suffer at all during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Goldsmith said. He added that Diehl “saw a way to make some easy and cheap money.” The investigation found that about $200,000 of the proceeds went into Diehl Law Group’s retirement plan, where he was the only participant, while other funds were spent on personal vehicle payments, credit card bills, mortgage payments, legal fees for a personal matter, college tuition for a family member, pool maintenance, country club expenses, and cash withdrawals.
Diehl pleaded guilty in September to one count of wire fraud. Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division said: “Although he legitimately obtained pandemic relief loans for his law practice, Diehl diverted those funds for personal use rather than the purposes Congress intended.” Crocker continued: “Relief programs like these were created to help small businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic—not to line someone’s pockets.”
Diehl previously served as an alderman for Town and Country, Missouri; Chairman of the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners; and Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives before resigning as speaker in 2015. In 2023, he entered into a consent order with the Missouri Ethics Commission after using campaign committee funds improperly and failing to report expenditures totaling over $35,000 on personal expenses.
