A Florida woman has been sentenced to two years in prison for charging federal student loan borrowers to submit documents containing false statements to the United States Department of Education to take advantage of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Nydira Adams, a/k/a “Nadira Adams,” a/k/a “Nadira Adams-McMillan,” 38, of Pensacola, Florida, was sentenced for a scheme that sought to cause the Department of Education to forgive over $6 million in federal student loan debt based on lies, misrepresentations, and falsehoods.
“Nydira Adams defrauded the Department of Education out of millions of dollars and preyed upon individuals seeking relief from federal student loan debt,” said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald. “Through lies, misrepresentations, and false documents, Adams abused the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program—a federal program intended to benefit individuals who dedicate at least 10 years of their careers to public service or non-profit work. And she did so to enrich herself. Today’s sentencing sends a clear message: individuals who swindle the Government and taxpayer-funded programs will be held accountable.”
The defendant pleaded guilty on April 30, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote, who imposed the sentence.
“Nydira Adams thought she could game the system and would not get caught, but she was wrong,” said DOE OIG Special Agent in Charge Jamila Davis. “The OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to aggressively pursue those who abuse the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program or any Federal education program for their own selfish purposes. America’s taxpayers and students deserve nothing less.”
Court documents say that from at least March 2023 through at least January 2025, Adams held herself out as the “Student Loan Default Guru” and operated a business under the same name. In reality, Adams used misrepresentations, false statements, and false documents to deceive the Department of Education into forgiving federal student loans issued to borrowers who paid Adams thousands of dollars for her purported services.
“Through lying, cheating, and manipulation, Ms. Adams devised a scheme to defraud the Department of Education and her clients by depicting herself as someone who held proprietary information on DOE programs, cheating those who truly needed student loan forgiveness and other assistance from the Department of Education,” said USPIS Inspector in Charge Ketty Larco-Ward. “Her actions are unconscionable and today’s sentence sends a message, that no matter who you claim to be, when you lie and steal from the public, postal inspectors and their law enforcement partners will be there to bring you to justice for your criminal activity.”
On multiple occasions, Adams knowingly and intentionally caused applications for Department of Education relief programs to be submitted that contained falsehoods pertaining to the borrowers’ eligibility for the relief programs. Among other falsehoods, Adams claimed that one California-based borrower worked full-time at a New York-based religious institution and falsely represented that another borrower worked full-time for a public school district. Adams’s scheme resulted in an intended loss of over $6 million to the Department of Education.
In addition to the prison term, Adams was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
McDonald praised the outstanding investigative work of the DOE OIG—Eastern Regional Office; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, New York; and the Special Agents assigned to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon C. Thompson is in charge of the prosecution.
