Sholanda Thomas, COVID-19 Unemployment Benefits Fraud, California 2022

Fresno, CA - In a shocking case of COVID-19 unemployment benefits fraud, Sholanda Thomas, 38, an inmate at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charges.

According to court documents, Thomas sent her own and other inmates’ personal identifying information to Christina Smith, who was on parole and had previously been an inmate at CCWF, to submit the fraudulent claims in their names.

The underlying applications falsely represented that the inmates had been working as carpet cleaners, hair stylists, mechanics, and other jobs, which was impossible since they were incarcerated and ineligible for benefits.

The loss to the California Employment Development Department (EDD) and the United States is over $250,000. Thomas split the proceeds with Smith and her other co-conspirators.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Investigative Services Unit, and the EDD.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton is prosecuting the case.

Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on September 12, 2022. For the conspiracy charge, she faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. For the aggravated identity theft charge, she faces a mandatory two-year sentence consecutive to any other sentence and a $250,000 fine.

Smith pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in federal prison in September 2021.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/inmate-pleads-guilty-covid-19-unemployment-benefits-fraud