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Two Virginia Inmates Plead Guilty to Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Scheme (Press Release, November 30, 2021)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia dated Tuesday, November 30, 2021. It states that Mark Hilliard, 36, and Elvon George, 33, inmates at Greensville Correctional Center during the fraud, each pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Roderick C. Young to conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with major disaster benefits. According to court documents, from approximately June 2020 through in or around March 2021, the two collected fellow inmates' personally identifiable information and provided it to outside facilitators to file unemployment insurance claims, obtaining over $220,000. Sentencing is scheduled for April 19, 2022 for Hilliard and March 31, 2022 for George, in Case No. 2:21-cr-111.

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“Two Virginia Inmates Plead Guilty to Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Scheme (Press Release, November 30, 2021).” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2021-12-02-two-virginia-inmates-plead-guilty-to-pandemic-unemployment-4d7dafa9ca/, SHA-256 8f0000f60474f47777608ceb57680989a21326236776a91d1057e1e042b462d3.

Full text

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                   Tuesday, November 30, 2021

           Two Virginia Inmates Plead Guilty to Pandemic
                 Unemployment Benefits Scheme
NORFOLK, Va. – Two men pleaded guilty today to fraudulently obtaining benefits made available as
a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to court documents, from approximately June 2020 through in or around March 2021,
Mark Hilliard, 36, and Elvon George, 33, who were inmates at Greensville Correctional Center during
the fraud, collected the personally identifiable information (PII) of their fellow inmates. They then
provided the PII to two outside facilitators to file fraudulent unemployment insurance claims. To
alleviate financial hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020 Congress and the Virginia
Employment Commission (“VEC”) expanded unemployment benefits by increasing benefit payments
and by making them available to gig workers, the self-employed, and others whose employment status
the VEC could not easily verify. The defendants exploited these changes to obtain over $220,000 in
fraudulent unemployment benefits by making numerous false statements in the inmate
unemployment applications.

Hilliard pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with major disaster benefits and
is scheduled to be sentenced on April 19, 2022. George also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit
fraud in connection with major disaster benefits and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 31, 2022.
Hilliard and George each face a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal
crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any
sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Derek Pickle, Special Agent-in-
Charge of the Washington, DC Regional Office, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General;
and Joseph V. Cuffari, Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security, made the
announcement after U.S. District Judge Roderick C. Young accepted the plea.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Gantt is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern
District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District
Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:21-cr-111.
Topic(s):                                               Component(s):
Coronavirus                                             USAO - Virginia, Eastern
Financial Fraud
                                                        Contact:
                                                        USAVAE.Press@usdoj.gov

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