It was one of the strangest Covid fraud cases brought by the Justice Department, with the kind of wild details that seemed ripped from a Hollywood script.

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There was an $8.4 million pandemic relief loan based on records purportedly signed by a dementia-stricken accountant. Bags of shredded documents were discovered in a Mercedes SUV. Cellphones were found inside pouches specially designed to block radio frequencies to keep them from being tracked. And there were allegations of faked mental health problems that recalled the notorious case of mobster Vincent “The Chin” Gigante.

At the center of it all was a supposed man of God — a Florida-based pastor with an unusual past, who is alleged to have run a sham ministry.

The pastor, Evan Edwards, and his son, Josh, were arrested in late 2022 on charges of fraudulently obtaining millions in Covid relief aid and trying to use some of the money to buy a luxury home near Walt Disney World.

But their lawyers struggled to communicate with them from the start, and multiple psychiatrists were brought in to examine whether they were truly suffering from mental health problems or were feigning symptoms to avoid a possible prison term.

More than three years later, the case has finally come to an end.

A judge sentenced Josh Edwards, 35, to four years and three months in prison Tuesday. Josh, a Canadian citizen like his father, is likely to be deported following his prison term, his lawyer said. He had previously pleaded guilty to two fraud counts.

There will be no plea deal or sentencing for the elder Edwards. Charges against Evan were dropped in March 2025 when it was determined that he was incompetent to stand trial. He was suffering from “moderate to severe dementia and significant and permanent cognitive deficits,” as well as a host of physical issues, a magistrate judge said in court papers.

Josh Edwards, on the other hand, had been ruled competent even though his mother said he has autism and a learning disability and that he had “no real friendships and spent all of his time with his family,” according to court papers filed by his lawyer.

In seeking a lighter sentence, Josh’s attorney, Andrew Searle, had portrayed him as a fall guy for his family. Searle said in court papers that it was his father who started and operated their ministry, ASLAN International, and that his sister, Joy, and mother, Mary Jane, controlled the accounts the ill-gotten loan money was transferred into.

“Given his lack of maturity and his dependency on his family, it is clear that [Josh Edwards] acted at the instruction and direction of others when he sought and signed for the PPP loan in this case,” Searle said in court papers, in which he noted that the government had recommended a sentence of 36 months, which is the equivalent of time served.

After the sentence was issued, Searle told NBC News that he was disappointed the judge went beyond what the government had asked for.

“I was hoping we could walk out of the courtroom knowing that he was at least done with his sentence,” Searle said.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Alan Heringa, one of Evan’s cousins, said the case shocked his extended family in Canada.

“His whole life was devoted to the church,” Heringa said. “To scam the government, it’s just unbelievable.”

“I can see his father rolling in his grave,” Heringa added.

Cracking the case

The Covid pandemic was raging in the spring of 2020 when Congress passed a law that, among other things, provided aid to small businesses and organizations through the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP. But in the ensuing months and years, it became evident that the loan program was a magnet for fraudsters, resulting in one of the greatest grifts in U.S. history.

More than $200 billion in Covid relief loans and grants was most likely doled out to fraudsters from March 2020 to January 2022, according to government reports.

Evan and Josh Edwards were among hundreds charged with defrauding the program. According to federal prosecutors, their scheme was set in motion within a year of the family’s relocating to the U.S.

The Edwardses did missionary work in Turkey for at least two decades before they moved to Canada and then to Florida in 2019. They settled in a newly built community in New Smyrna Beach, about an hour’s drive from Orlando.