The last defendant in a conspiracy involving fraudulent pandemic unemployment benefit claims has been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Virginia. Jason Dale Worley, 47, of Meadowview, received a sentence of 12 months and one day in prison for filing a fraudulent claim for pandemic unemployment benefits. He was also ordered to pay $9,698 in restitution to the Virginia Employment Commission.
Earlier this year, Crystal Shaw was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for her role as one of the lead organizers of the scheme. She was ordered to pay $287,459 in restitution. Fifteen other co-defendants previously received sentences ranging from 12 months and one day up to 48 months. Jonathan Webb, who recruited others—primarily inmates at local jails—to file fraudulent claims, was sentenced to 48 months and ordered to pay $150,218 in restitution. Josef Brown received a sentence of 35 months and must pay $119,660.
According to court documents, between March 2020 and September 2021, Shaw, Webb, and Brown developed a plan using personal identification information from inmates at SWVRJA-Haysi and Abingdon as well as friends and acquaintances. This information was used to file false claims through the Virginia Employment Commission website on behalf of people not eligible for benefits.
In total, the group stole $341,205 in pandemic relief funds.
The investigation involved multiple agencies including the Dickenson County Sheriff’s Office; Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority; FBI; U.S. Department of Labor; Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Task Force via the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery; Office of Inspector General; and the Virginia Employment Commission.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares stated: “Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced the sentences concerning the prosecution of this case through the Attorney General’s partnership with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia.”
Special Assistant United States Attorney M. Suzanne Kerney-Quillen—a Senior Assistant Attorney General with Virginia—and Assistant United States Attorney Danielle Stone prosecuted the case.
According to data from federal authorities cited by the United States Department of Labor, approximately $1.1 billion in fraudulent unemployment claims were paid out by Virginia between April 2020 and March 2021.
