A former DeKalb County Board member and an ex-corrections deputy pleaded not guilty on Thursday to multiple charges related to defrauding the federal COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program.

Cortland married couple Savannah Ilenikhena, 33, and Bartholomew Ilenikhena, 37, each was charged on July 11 with loan fraud and theft between $10,000 and $100,000, court records show. If convicted, they face up to seven years in prison. They also were charged with three counts of forgery.

Records allege the pair each falsified federal PPP loan applications, listing businesses with different income amounts in a scheme to collect money meant to help those impacted by the pandemic.

Bartholomew Ilenikhena is a former corrections deputy with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office. Savannah Ilenikhena has served as a Republican DeKalb County Board member for District 5 since December 2022. They resigned from their positions – Bartholomew in May and Savannah in June – before the indictment was handed down.

The two appeared before DeKalb County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Pedersen via Zoom on Thursday for arraignment.

Wheaton-based attorney Stacey McCullough represented Savannah Ilenikhena. Sycamore-based Melanie Fialkowski represented Bartholomew Ilenikhena. Neither lawyer responded to a request for comment by presstime.

The Ilenikhenas’ lawyers both told Pedersen they’re still collecting potential evidence for trial.

The Ilenikhenas were charged following an investigation by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, court records show. The pair is free pending trial after a July 24 ruling.

Prosecutors allege that between April and October 2021, the Ilenikhenas applied for PPP relief money by submitting forms with false information to the federal government, according to court records.

Court filings allege the couple gave the U.S. Small Business Administration false information as part of a scheme to get federal relief money for businesses that don’t exist.

In his PPP application, Bartholomew Ilenikhena reported a business named “Bartholomew Ilenikhena” had a gross income of $10,482 in 2019, according to court records. But he also listed a business of the same name with a different 2019 gross income amount, $89,195, in a PPP application to a financial institution, prosecutors allege.

Savannah Ilenikhena reported a business named “Savannah Ware” had a gross income of $12,255 in 2019 in her PPP application, records allege. And in a PPP borrower form to a financial institution, she allegedly wrote that a business named “Savannah Ilenikhena” had a gross income of $83,746 in 2019, records show.

Court filings allege Bartholomew Ilenikhena also committed forgery when he falsely stated on a PPP application that his businesses spent $13,585 on payroll, records show. And Savannah Ilenikhena wrote on an application that her business, “Savannah Ilenikhena,” spent $12,998 on payroll, records allege.

They are both expected to appear for a status hearing before Pedersen at 9 a.m. on Dec. 16.