LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A Southern California woman, according to prosecutors, who earned more than $ 500,000 in COVID-19 benefits through stolen Social Security numbers and other personal data, pleaded guilty Wednesday to an indictment federal criminal.
Cara Marie Kirk-Connell, 32, admitted in a claims agreement the purchase of stolen identities through the “dark network” and the viewing of YouTube videos on how to file fraudulent unemployment claims, according to prosecutors .
Kirk-Connell pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to a single charge of using an unauthorized access device.
The Riverside County woman faces up to ten years in federal prison when she is sentenced in April, although federal sentencing guidelines tend to call for less time behind bars.
As part of his pact with prosecutors, Kirk-Connell admitted he acquired debit cards worth more than $ 500,000 from the California Department of Employment Development using stolen personal information.
California EDD records showed that cards and identities were used to raise approximately $ 534,149 in COVID-19-related unemployment funds, of which nearly $ 270,000 had already been spent, according to a affidavit filed. as part of the research.
The benefits are intended to be distributed under the Coronavirus Aid, Aid and Economic Security Act, passed by Congress in March.
This legislation extended unemployment benefits to cover employers, self-employed workers and self-employed contractors, who lost jobs or income during the coronavirus pandemic.
California has been one of the most affected U.S. states during the latest wave of COVID-19, which has killed more than 300,000 people nationwide since the infections spread in March this year.
Business blockades and closures imposed by state and local leaders in response to the pandemic have left millions of Americans unemployed and left the U.S. economy.
Report by Dan Whitcomb, edited by Nick Zieminski