JPL employee pleads guilty to using COVID-19 funds to grow marijuana

A Glendale man working for the revered NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena is facing a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for using COVID-19 relief loans to, in part, fund his illegal marijuana grow operation.

According to his plea agreement, 32-year-old Armen Hovanesian, a JPL cost-control and budget-planning resource analyst, submitted three loan applications to the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program. Officials established the program to provide low-interesting financing to small businesses, renters and homeowners in places affected by declared disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Department of Justice said Hovanesian admitted to lying about the gross revenues of his businesses in 2019. Prosecutors also said he confessed to falsifying the intended use of the loans. In total, the SBA granted Hovanesian $151,900 in loans.

Instead of using the funds for "working capital to alleviate economic injury caused by disaster," Hovanesian used the loan to repay personal real-estate debt and to grow marijuana illegally, according to prosecutors. 

He is expected to enter his guilty plea during his initial court appearance on Aug. 11. He faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison. 

The JPL facility in Pasadena is a federally-funded research and development center operated by the California Institute of Technology for NASA.