❓WHAT HAPPENED: Ruby Corado, founder of Casa Ruby, pleaded guilty to wire fraud for diverting COVID-19 relief funds.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Ruby Corado, a legal permanent resident from El Salvador, and his attorneys.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Sentencing is set for January 13, following his July 2024 guilty plea.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Few face the combined realities of transgender status in a system retreating from safety protections, certain immigration detention, and likely removal to a country hostile to their very identity,” argues attorney Pleasant Brodnax.
🎯IMPACT: Prosecutors seek a 33-month sentence; defense wants time served, claiming Corado will be at risk in a men’s prison.
Ruby Corado, the transgender founder of the now-defunct Washington, D.C.–based LGBTQ+ nonprofit Casa Ruby, is asking a federal judge to spare him from prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud connected to COVID-19 relief funds. Court records show that Corado admitted he “illegally transferred at least $200,000 to El Salvador from approximately $960,000 in federal aid received in 2020,” money that was intended to support Casa Ruby’s operations during the pandemic. The nonprofit had provided housing and social services to LGBTQ+ people before shutting down in 2022.
Federal prosecutors argue Corado should receive a sentence of about 33 months in prison. His attorneys counter that sentencing guidelines suggest a range of 15 to 21 months and are urging the court to impose only time served. The defense claims the remaining funds were used for legitimate purposes.
In filings, Corado’s lawyers argue that incarceration would pose “extraordinary risks” because of his transgender status and warn that imprisonment could also lead to deportation proceedings, as Corado is not a U.S. citizen. Sentencing is scheduled for January 13 after multiple delays.
“Few face the combined realities of transgender status in a system retreating from safety protections, certain immigration detention, and likely removal to a country hostile to their very identity,” Pleasant Brodnax, Corado’s attorney, said this week.
The case has drawn attention amid broader discussions about transgender incarceration and cases of pandemic-era fraud. According to recent reporting, approximately 15 percent of inmates housed in federal women’s prisons are men claiming to be transgender, a figure that has fueled debate over prison policies, safety, and placement.
Corado’s prosecution is also part of a nationwide wave of investigations into misuse of COVID-19 relief funds. During the pandemic, federal and state authorities distributed trillions of dollars through emergency loan and aid programs, many of which later proved vulnerable to fraud. Law enforcement agencies have since charged thousands of suspects across the country, including nonprofit leaders and public employees, with diverting or stealing pandemic funds.
In several high-profile cases, prosecutors allege that lax oversight allowed large-scale schemes to operate for months or years before detection. Those cases have prompted calls for tighter controls on emergency spending and greater accountability for organizations receiving public funds.
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