Inmate Pleads Guilty In $25 Million Rip-Off Of State Unemployment COVID Benefits
FRESNO (CBS SF) -- A 31-year-old Kern Valley State Prison inmate pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charges for his role in a $25 million unemployment insurance fraud scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced that Daryol Richmond now faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the conspiracy charge. He also faces a mandatory, additional two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft charge.
Richmond was one of eight defendants charged last week in the scheme to make fraudulent unemployment insurance claims in the identities of inmates, minor children and others to the California Employment Development Department.
According to the plea agreement, Richmond obtained the personal identifying information for other individuals, including inmates and non-inmates, without their authorization. He then provided this information to his co-conspirators inside and outside of prison through emails and jail calls.
The co-conspirators then filed applications for state unemployment insurance claiming the inmates, minor children, and others previously worked as clothing merchants, handymen, and other jobs and recently became unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the plea agreement, Richmond acknowledged that he was responsible for $1.4 million worth of the fraudulent claims.
According to the charging document, after the defendants received the debit cards for the claims in the mail, they made cash withdrawals at different locations, on different days and times, and in varying amounts all to avoid detection by government authorities. The defendants spent the money on vehicles, furniture, handbags, jewelry, and other items and services.
Charges are pending against the other defendants in this case: Telvin Breaux, 29, an inmate at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi; Holly White, 30, of Los Angeles; Cecelia Allen, 33, of Downey; Fantasia Brown, 33, of Los Angeles; Tonisha Brown, 28, of Los Angeles; Fantesia Davis, 32, of Victorville; and Shanice White, 28, of Hawthorne.
