BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – The founder of “The Space Coast Rocket” local news website in Brevard County faces federal charges over accusations of a COVID-19 pandemic loan fraud scheme, according to court documents obtained by News 6.
Those records show that the founder — editor-in-chief Robert William Burns, 44 — was arrested on Tuesday, though the arrest warrant was issued nearly a week beforehand.
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In an indictment, prosecutors say that Burns took out over $57,000 in loans through the Paycheck Protection Program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Burns reportedly misrepresented his income and certified that those funds would go toward retaining staff, maintaining payroll and “other business-related expenses,” the indictment shows.
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However, prosecutors claim that Burns used those loans to buy cryptocurrency and “gambling-related transactions.”
As a result, Burns is facing three counts of wire fraud.
Following Burns’ arraignment on Tuesday, he was released on pre-trial conditions, according to court records.
On its website, The Space Coast Rocket describes burns as follows:
Robert Burns is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Space Coast Rocket. He is retired from the United States Army and moved back here to his hometown after retiring. He is the President of The Relentless Group and owner of The Social Wizards. He is also founder of Tourniquets for Teachers, a nonprofit dedicated to training teachers and staff to save lives in the event of a shooting in our schools. He is a married father of three and enjoys telling awful dad jokes.
The Space Coast Rocket
This wasn’t Burns’ first time in court, though. He faced a long list of election law violations last year stemming from the 2020 election cycle.
FEC investigators said Burns failed to properly file finance reports for his Friends of Florida PAC, disclose thousands of dollars in contributions, and properly disclose political ads paid for with PAC funds.
In addition, Burns faces pending charges of trespassing, witness tampering and assault from a case stemming back to August 2023.
During that incident, Burns confronted a woman at a car rental business over a political post she’d made about Burns and his family, according to Melbourne police.
In an affidavit, investigators said that Burns allegedly told the woman, “Today is the day you’re going to learn” and refused to leave after being asked to repeatedly.
For the federal wire fraud charges, a status conference is scheduled for May 20 at 4 p.m.
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