Factual Proffer — United States v. Thompkins (Dkt. 34, S.D. Fla.)

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A factual proffer in United States v. Kenbrell Armod Thompkins, Case No. 21-CR-20136, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, entered October 18, 2021 as Document 34 and signed by the parties. It describes the unemployment insurance system and states that fraudulent EDD accounts were opened in victims' names with debit cards mailed to addresses in Aventura and Miami. It states that the defendant was captured on surveillance footage withdrawing approximately $4,860 from the fraudulent EDD cards, and that a later search found handwritten notes with victims' personal information.

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Case 1:21-cr-20136-RNS Document 34 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/18/2021 Page 1 of 3




                              U NITED STATES D ISTR ICT C OU RT
                              SO UTH ERN DISTR IC T O F FLO RIDA

                                 C ASE NO .21-CR-20136-SC OLA


   UNITED STA TE S O F A M ER ICA

   VS.

   K ENBRELL AR M O D TH O M PK IN S,

                 D efendant.
                                               /

                                       FACTUA L PR O FFER

          TheUnitedSltesofAmerica(thettunitedStates''),KENBRELLARMOD THOMPKINS
   (theçr efendanf),andhisundersignedcounselagreethat,werethiscasetoproceedtotrial,the
   United States would prove beyond a reasonable doubtthe follow ing facts,am ong others,which

   occurred in the Southern D istrictofFlorida and elsew here:

                 The federalgovernmentprovidesunemploymentinsurance (GtUl'')benefitsfor
   qualified peoplew ho are unable to w ork.State em ploym entofficesadm inisterthe Ulsystem for

   thefederalgovernm ent.In California,theagency responsible foroversightofthe state'sUIsystem

   istheEmploymentDevelopmentDepartment($$EDD'').InMarch2020,throughtheCARESAct,
   the federalgovernm entprovided substantialU lfundsto the statesto help the Am erican people

   during the econom ic crisiscaused by theCOV ID-19 pandem ic.Forthetim esrelevantto thiscase,

   theCaliforniaEDD disbursedUlbenefitsprimarilybyissuingpre-paidBankofAmerica(EEBofA'')
   debitcards,to provide easily accessible UIassistance to eligible California U 1claim ants.

                 From at least in or around M ay 2020 through on or about January 19,2021,the

   Defendantresided in an apartmentin Aventura,Florida(the EûAventura Apartmenf'),butalso
   stayedatandusedhismother'shomeinM iami,Florida(theûûM iamiResidence'').

Case 1:21-cr-20136-RNS Document 34 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/18/2021 Page 2 of 3




                 OnoraboutAugustl6,2020,thepersonalidentifyinginformation(ûTII'')ofvictim
   W .S.,includinghisSocialSecurity Num ber($$SSN''),wasused to fraudulently t5le forCalifornia
   Ulbenefitsthrough the EDD .Thisoccurred unbeknow nstto W .S.,who latertold law enforcem ent

   thathe w as a Florida resident,thathe did notknow the D efendant,and thathe neverauthorized

   the D efendant to use or possess his SSN . N evertheless,the California EDD approved that

   fraudulentBofA EDD debitcard issued in thenam e ofW .S.,which w asm ailed to the Defendant's

   M iam iResidence.

                 The subsequentlaw enforcem entinvestigation revealed that,apartfrom W .S.,there

   w ere a num berofotherfraudulentEDD accounts opened in the nam e ofadditionalvictim s with

   EDD debitcards m ailed to the Aventura Apartm entorthe M iam iA ddress.

                 ln addition,based on surveillance footage ofA TM withdrawals corresponding to

   the victim s' fraudulent EDD debit cards, law enforcem ent obtained visual evidence of the

   Defendantw ithdraw ing funds from those fraudulentEDD debitcards atvarious BofA locations.

   On atleastfive occasions,from on oraboutAugust28,2020 through on oraboutSeptem ber25,

   2020,the Defendantw as captured on surveillance footage w ithdrawing a totalofapproxim ately

   $4,860from thefraudulentEDD cardsissued inthenam esofvictims,including W .S.

                 Based on thatevidence,law enforcem entobtained a search w arrantand searched

   the D efendant's A ventura Apartm ent on or about January 19, 2021. In his bedroom , law

   enforcementfoundofficialEDD mailings(statementsandletters),alsoaddressedtotheAventura
   Apartm entorthe M iam iResidence,issued to severalofthe know n victim s,including W .S. Law

   enforcem entalso found handwritten notescontaining thenam es,birth dates,and SSN Sforseveral

   victim s,including W .S. In total,betw een the A TM surveillance footage and the aforem entioned

Case 1:21-cr-20136-RNS Document 34 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/18/2021 Page 3 of 3




   itemsfoundintheAventuraApartment,law enforcementidentifiedoverten(10)victims.
                 Further,as set forth above,the Defendant w as in possession of W .S.'S SSN in

   connection w ith hisUIfraud.Thiswasdespitethe factthatW .S.did notknow theD efendantand

   neverauthorized him to possess oruse hisSSN . A review ofthe D efendant'scellularphone also

   revealed chatsreferencing internettutorials forthe application ofU1benefits in states outside of

   Florida.

          8.     The parties agree that Defendant's conduct was in and affecting interstate

   com m erce,specifically,butnotlim ited to,the aforem entioned involvem entofand effectof this

   fraud schem e on the California EDD .

                 The parties furtheragree thatthese facts,w hich do notinclude allfactsknown to

   the United States and the Defendant,are sufficientto prove Counts l and 3 of the lndictm ent

   beyond a reasonable doubt.


                                       JUAN A NTON IO GON ZALEZ
                                       A CTW G UN ITED STATES ATTORN EY


   Date: ô 1% r&& /             By:
                                       EDU ARDO GARDEA ,JI.
                                       A SSISTAN T U NITED STA TES A TTORN EY


   oate:/J/b f> r               By:
                                       DANIEL ECARIUS '           rM     -
                                                           ,   ESQ.
                                       ATTORN E FOR D EFEN DAN T

   Ilate: fo//>/ay              By:
                                       KENBRELL ARM OD TH OM PK IN S
                                       DEFEN DAN T

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