A Brooklyn-based member of the Ninedee gang, Darnell “EJ” Jones, has been sentenced to 145 months in federal prison for turning COVID-era unemployment programs into a cash pipeline that prosecutors say stole more than $800,000 and helped bankroll the gang’s operations. Jones pleaded guilty in April 2025 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft tied to false unemployment claims filed during the pandemic.
Long federal term for pandemic-era scam
The FBI’s New York field office said Jones received the 145-month sentence following proceedings in Brooklyn federal court, noting that the stolen funds were used to support the enterprise’s illicit operations and firearms procurement, according to FBI New York. Prosecutors say the scheme zeroed in on federally funded unemployment programs that were set up during the COVID-19 emergency.
Jones first pleaded guilty on April 9, 2025. According to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, he admitted that from March 2020 through August 2021 he used stolen personally identifiable information to fraudulently obtain more than $800,000 in unemployment insurance benefits, and court records show an intended victim loss exceeding $3.5 million. The office said Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily J. Dean and Irisa Chen handled the prosecution.
How prosecutors say the scheme ran
Federal filings and agency reports describe a network that bought PII in exchange for cryptocurrency, used that data to submit false claims to the New York State Department of Labor, and laundered the proceeds back into the gang, according to the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General. Those filings say coordinators sent lists of names and solicited dates of birth, Social Security numbers and bank-account details from co-conspirators to fuel the fraud.
Prosecutions target Ninedee's funding streams
Officials say the case is part of a broader effort to choke off the Ninedee gang’s revenue. Local reporting shows that five defendants have pleaded guilty and leader Maliek Miller was convicted at trial in June 2024. For background on the gang’s prosecutions and the Pink Houses nexus, see reporting by the Brooklyn Eagle and earlier coverage of the fraud scheme.
Legal notes
Jones was prosecuted on counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, those offenses carry significant federal penalties and can include restitution to victims. Investigators on the case included the FBI, the DOL Office of Inspector General and the NYPD, the office said.
