Two former Cincinnati-area football players are heading to prison after admitting they helped siphon roughly $6.8 million from pandemic unemployment programs. Andrew Kerobo and Deonta “Tay Ocho” Belser were each sentenced Monday to between seven and 10½ years behind bars and ordered to repay about $6.8 million. Investigators say the entire scheme hinged on a contractor’s access to Ohio’s unemployment system, which was used to shove bogus payments to a web of co-conspirators.
According to The Columbus Dispatch, both men pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in corrupt activity and were sentenced in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. The pair had originally faced a sprawling 40-count indictment tied to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims. The judge’s orders include restitution of roughly $6.8 million to the state.
A report from the Office of the Ohio Inspector General found that Kerobo, a temporary teleservices representative working for contractor Randstad, improperly accessed and altered hundreds of PUA claims after he was terminated in September 2020. Investigators say his login stayed active for about 90 days after he was fired and that in that window he manipulated 448 claims, releasing about $6.86 million in benefits. Watchdog investigators traced digital transfers to and from co-conspirators as key evidence tying those payments to the fraud.
How the scheme worked
According to the Office of the Ohio Inspector General, Belser lined up recruiters and claimants willing to hand over their personal information. Kerobo then used his system access to “redetermine” and release payments, which were split among the players in the scheme. As investigators recorded one interview subject explaining, “He [Belser] had to get paid in order for you to get paid …,” a line the report uses to illustrate the cash flow. The document maps out Cash App and Apple Pay transactions that closely tracked Kerobo’s unauthorized logins and claim edits.
Statewide fallout
From the start of the pandemic through Sept. 30, 2025, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services identified roughly $1.8 billion in overpayments tied to unemployment benefits and has clawed back about $108 million, figures reported by The Columbus Dispatch. Ohio’s heavy reliance on contractors to handle the crush of claims in 2020 meant large numbers of nonstate workers had wide system access, a vulnerability highlighted in the inspector general’s review. Since then, lawmakers and auditors have zeroed in on how contractor logins were managed and whether tighter controls could have blunted the losses.
Legal implications
The scam triggered a broad criminal probe that culminated in a December 2024 grand jury indictment naming Kerobo, Belser and multiple co-conspirators, with earlier reporting noting the depth of the alleged network. That investigation ultimately produced guilty pleas from both men, according to coverage by WLWT. Prosecutors have cast the case as part of a statewide push to hold people accountable for pandemic-era unemployment fraud and to claw back misdirected taxpayer money. The inspector general’s report was forwarded to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office and the state auditor for further action, and restitution is now locked into the court’s sentencing orders.
The convictions rank among the more visible outcomes of Ohio’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance investigations and serve as a blunt reminder of how quickly emergency programs can be exploited when safeguards lag behind demand. State officials say both recovery and prevention efforts are ongoing as investigators and auditors continue to scrutinize contractor access and other weak points in the system.
