NORFOLK, VA – A brazen scheme to siphon off pandemic unemployment funds from within the Virginia prison system landed Michael Anthony White, 39, of Norfolk, a 57-month federal prison sentence. White, already an inmate at Lawrenceville Correctional Center, orchestrated the fraud by exploiting the personal information of fellow prisoners, raking in over $330,000 in stolen benefits.
According to court documents, White teamed up with Mary Landon Benton, 38, of Portsmouth, starting in May 2020. While locked up, White fed Benton the personally identifiable information of inmates at Lawrenceville, enabling her to file fraudulent unemployment claims. The scheme quickly expanded, drawing in Michael Lee Lewis, Jr., an inmate at Augusta Correctional Center, who supplied Benton and another accomplice, Angelica Cartwright-Powers, with data on prisoners at his facility. The operation was a cold calculation: exploit a system designed to help those in need, and split the profits with co-conspirators and the inmates whose identities were stolen.
Benton, with White and others assisting, successfully submitted applications for 31 inmates. Cartwright-Powers added another four successful claims to the total. The total fraudulently obtained was $436,834, though the Virginia Employment Commission managed to recover some of the funds after the fraud was uncovered. The money was shared between White, Benton, Lewis, Cartwright-Powers, and the inmates whose stolen identities fueled the scheme – a clear indication of widespread complicity within the prison walls.
This wasn’t a victimless crime. While the scheme targeted a government program, the funds were diverted from those genuinely in need during a period of widespread economic hardship. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, along with federal investigators, have been aggressively pursuing these cases under “Operation Checkmate,” a task force dedicated to inmate unemployment insurance fraud.
Benton has already been sentenced to 78 months in prison, and Lewis, Jr. received an even harsher 115-month sentence. Cartwright-Powers has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and is scheduled for sentencing on March 24. The investigation involved the U.S. Secret Service’s Richmond Field Office, the Portsmouth Police Department, and the Virginia Employment Commission, highlighting a multi-agency effort to dismantle the operation.
U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber, along with Troy W. Springer, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, and Dr. Joseph V. Cuffari, Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security, announced the sentencing of White following a judgment handed down by U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson. The case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Gantt, serves as a stark warning: exploiting the pandemic for personal gain will be met with federal prosecution and significant prison time.
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Key Facts
- Agency: U.S. Secret Service
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Press Release
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