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Bristol, Tennessee Man Sentenced in $499,000 Unemployment Fraud Scheme (August 12, 2021)

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia dated August 12, 2021, announcing a 24-month prison sentence for Jared Mitchell, 31, of Bristol, Tennessee. Mitchell waived indictment and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to defraud the United States and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud involving benefits paid in connection with a presidentially declared major disaster or emergency. The release says the conspiracy gathered personal identification information of more than 35 co-conspirators, including 15 inmates in the custody of the Virginia Department of Corrections, and filed fraudulent pandemic unemployment claims for at least 37 individuals over nine months. It states a total actual loss to the United States of at least $499,000.

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“Bristol, Tennessee Man Sentenced in $499,000 Unemployment Fraud Scheme (August 12, 2021).” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2021-08-20-bristol-tennessee-man-sentenced-in-499-000-unemployment-fra-851610a011/, SHA-256 c7a475021531ba2063e78dd468f889fd0daa0ef39dc3bb2753059de35b32ebee.

Full text

                                       Department of Justice
                                         U.S. Attorney’s Office
                                       Western District of Virginia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                          Thursday, August 12, 2021

           Bristol, Tennessee Man Sentenced in $499,000
                    Unemployment Fraud Scheme

 ABINGDON, Va. – A Bristol, Tennessee man was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for conspiring
 with others to defraud the government of more than $499,000 and to commit mail fraud.

 According to court documents, Jared Mitchell, 31, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty to one
 count of conspiring to defraud the United States and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud with
 respect to benefits authorized and paid in connection with a presidentially declared major disaster or
 emergency.

 Mitchell participated in a conspiracy to commit fraud against the United States in connection with a scheme
 involving the filing of fraudulent claims for pandemic unemployment benefits.

 According to court documents, Mitchell, and others, conspired to collect personal identification information
 of more than 35 co-conspirators, including 15 inmates in the custody of the Virginia Department of
 Corrections, and to file fraudulent claims of pandemic-related unemployment benefits.

 Over the course of nine months, the conspiracy filed fraudulent claims for at least 37 individuals, with a total
 actual loss to the United States of at least $499,000.

 Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar of the Western District of Virginia, Darrell J. Waldon, IRS-CI
 Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Washington DC Field Office, and Syreeta Scott, Acting Special Agent-
 in-Charge, Philadelphia Region, U. S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General announced the
 sentence today.

 The Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal
 Investigation, the Norton Police Department, and the Russell County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

 Assistant United States Attorney Daniel J. Murphy prosecuted the case.

 On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal
 the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance
 efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and
 prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with
 administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating
 existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and
 their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.
 For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit
 https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

 Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling
 the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the
 NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.


Component(s):
USAO - Virginia, Western

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