Former Williamson County Commission candidate pleads guilty to federal fraud charges

A former Williamson County Commission candidate pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges in federal court on Thursday.

40-year-old John Paul Dillon, of Franklin, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of money-laundering related to fraudulent loan applications submitted in connection with the Payroll Protection Program (“PPP”) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dillon will be sentenced in March 2024 and faces up to 30 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $1 million on the bank fraud charge, up to 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000 for the wire fraud charge, and up to 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000 for the money-laundering charge.

According to court documents, the case stems from two companies controlled by Dillon, DJ Ikon, Inc., and Ikon Holdings, Inc., which were founded in Georgia in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The companies have a Franklin address, which in reality is just a U.S. Post Office box.

Dillon moved to Williamson County in 2020, and in 2022, he unsuccessfully ran for the District 12 commission seat where he earned a total of 394 votes in the May 2022 Republican primary.

Williamson County Election Commissioner Chad Gray told The News that his office had not been contacted by any law enforcement officials regarding Dillon.

On his now-deleted campaign website, drain2022wilco.com, Dillon described himself as “A Dedicated Man for Williamson Country’s District 12."

In a 2022 podcast, Dillon alleged that the County Commission “doesn’t care” about the public, and that fire services in Williamson County “don’t take anything seriously.”

Dillon has publicly stated that he served as a firefighter from 2006 to 2018 in Maryland, as well as worked as a DJ and a businessman across a variety of industries, none of which could be independently verified.

In 2022, Dillon was arrested in Putnam County for “traveling in excess of 100 mph on the left shoulder of I-40, with flashing red/white emergency lights on his SUV,” leading multiple law enforcement vehicles on a high speed chase.

Dillon ultimately received judicial diversion in a Putnam County Circuit Court for the charges of evading arrest and reckless endangerment.

Police said that Dillon falsely identified himself as a member of Nolensville Fire and Rescue during his arrest.

NFR Chief David Windrow told The News that Dillon was not affiliated with the department.

These details came to light in a court filing in response to Dillon’s attempt to be granted to change his pretrial release conditions in order to travel to the Philippines while facing the charges.

Dillon falsely claimed he and others earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in income from a “ride-share business” and falsely claimed to have paid more than $500,000 in wages.

The rideshare business allegedly operated in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania in 2019 and 2020, years when Dillon resided in Georgia and Tennessee.

In addition to the pandemic-related charges, Dillon also submitted falsified bank statements to complete loan applications which he used to finance a $470,000 mortgage, obtaining nearly $1 million through the scheme.

Dillon was also in possession of multiple driver’s licenses and legal documents with a variety of names from multiple states.

As part of his restitution, Dillon will forfeit his residence, two “late-model automobiles,” and a pontoon boat.

Dillon is also facing a state charge of issuing a false report to a police officer in an unrelated 2021 case.