The last of eight individuals involved in a $7.7 million pandemic fraud scheme has been sentenced, a significant conclusion to a case that exploited emergency aid programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The defendants, all of whom pleaded guilty, were part of an elaborate scam that siphoned funds from the Small Business Administration and several state unemployment programs across the country, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.
According to the press release, DeAngelo Jackson-Portwood, identified as the mastermind behind the fraud, has been sentenced to 61 months in prison for orchestrating the submission of over 1,000 claims for pandemic unemployment assistance in an elaborate plot involving stolen identities, and more than 575 bogus loan applications that aimed at pandemic loan assistance programs for nonexistent businesses, or in names of people unaware they were being used to commit fraud, the scheme targeting 17 states and the territory of Guam and obtaining around $5.6 million from false unemployment claims primarily affecting Michigan and California's workforce agencies, with the fraudulent loan applications bagging the conspirators an additional $2.1 million.
Each member of the group faces varying consequences. Anton Greenwood and Adartha Tillman received 42 and 40 months, respectively, while Maurice Brown-Portwood got 22 months, and Taurean Davis was handed a 12-month sentence. Los Angeles twins Tyrone and Timothy Boyle, along with Detroit's Christopher Lindsay, were each given three years of probation. Collectively, they will repay $7,703,549 in restitution to the SBA and various state workforce agencies, a clear message that such misdeeds are not without serious repercussions.
Several officials were cited in the case's closing remarks, highlighting the rigorous efforts by law enforcement agencies to address fraudulent activities exploiting welfare systems meant for genuine need. "Today's sentence concludes one of the largest pandemic fraud cases in our state," Jerome F. Gorgon Jr., United States Attorney, stated in the U.S. Attorney’s Office press release, recognizing the collaborative efforts with the FBI, Department of Labor, and Small Business Administration that were instrumental in bringing the perpetrators to justice. Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI Detroit Jennifer Runyan emphasized the human toll, pointing out the disruption to over 900 victims' lives, including a nurse who faced undue stress outside her lengthy COVID-19 frontline shifts due to the exploitation of her identity.
As for the Department of Labor, their stance echoes the broad sentiment of injustice; Inspector General Anthony P. D’Esposito expressed in the U.S. Attorney’s Office press release, "The defendants stole from unemployment insurance programs that exist to help American workers during a once-in-a-generation global pandemic," underscoring how this kind of fraud inflicts direct harm on workers and taxpayers alike. SBA-OIG's Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, Michelle Blank, also added, "This sentencing serves as a reminder that fraud is not a victimless crime," with a reinforced commitment to guarding against impostors aiming to illegitimately claim disaster and relief funds.
