It takes some real nerve to fraudulently use the state as a source of income while it has you imprisoned. But that’s exactly what a Massachusetts inmate was caught doing, according to a press release published by the Attorney General’s office.
The man first began receiving unemployment benefits following a separation with his employer. He later was incarcerated for an unrelated crime, but continued to collect the benefits through his wife, whom he reportedly asked to file a new unemployment claim on his behalf and to share some of that money with him, so he would have spending money for the prison canteen. (Wonder how many Dr. Peppers and bags of Fritos this guy was consuming on the daily?) She complied, and deposited other portions of the checks into her personal bank account.
An investigation by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance discovered the couple’s conspiracy to defraud the state, and it shared with the Attorney General evidence of more than $58,000 worth of benefits payments that the couple had illegally collected. (That amount is higher than the median household income in the U.S.) Now the husband is back in prison, serving an 18 month sentence after he pleaded guilty to 98 counts of Unemployment Fraud, to Larceny Over $250 by Single Scheme, Conspiracy to Commit Unemployment Fraud and Conspiracy to Commit Grand Larceny. Following his release, he will be on probation for three years, during which he will need to secure a legitimate source of income to repay the state $29,015. His wife was sentenced to five years of probation, and also must repay the state, after she pleaded guilty to related charges.
Unemployment benefits are meant to protect out-of-work individuals from falling into a cycle of poverty while they pound the pavement looking for employment. While an inmate, obviously, is unable to job-hunt from a jail cell, having to serve a prison sentence for criminal acts is an entirely avoidable unemployment situation and one that an individual enters into on their own volition.
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