Indian Trail Man Is Sentenced To 30 Months In Prison

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina dated January 28, 2022. It announces that U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad sentenced Joseph Ransome of Indian Trail to 30 months in prison for wire fraud, three years of supervised release and $44,172 in restitution for defrauding the COVID-19 Unemployment Insurance benefit program. According to the release, Ransome applied for UI benefits in multiple states on false claims of employment and termination, applying for more than $163,000 in fraudulent benefits from March 2020 through July 2020. In a separate case, Judge Conrad revoked the supervised release of Bryon Jones of Charlotte, who the release states received $142,900 in EIDL funds through Ramses Air Freight & Transport, Inc., and ordered 24 months in prison.

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Full text

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


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      Friday, January 28, 2022

 Indian Trail Man Is Sentenced To 30 Months In Prison For
  Scheme To Defraud COVID-19 Unemployment Insurance
                      Benefit Program
   Separately, Charlotte Man Was Sentenced to 24 Months after His Federal
         Supervision Was Revoked for COVID-19 Relief Loan Fraud
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad sentenced Joseph Ransome, 51, of Indian
Trail, N.C., to 30 months in prison for wire fraud yesterday, for defrauding the COVID-19
Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit program, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the
Western District of North Carolina. Judge Conrad also ordered Ransome to serve three years of
supervised release and to pay $44,172 in restitution.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act is a federal lawenacted March 29,
2020, designed to provide emergency financial assistance, including expanded UI benefits, to
millions of Americans suffering the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to plea documents and statements made in court, from March 2020 through July 2020,
Ransome received UI benefits to which he was not entitled. Court documents show that Ransome
applied for fraudulent UI benefits in multiple states, including in North Carolina, New Jersey, New
York, and elsewhere. Ransome filed for the UI benefits based on fraudulent claims, including non-
existent employment and false reason for termination. For example, Ransome falsely claimed to have
been laid off from Walmart in North Carolina due to COVID-19, when in fact Ransome had been laid
off due to misconduct. Ransome also falsely claimed prior employment at Target, BestBuy, Lowe’s,
and Hobby Lobby, and falsely claimed that he had been laid off from some of these companies
because he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 or due to lack of work because of the coronavirus
when he had never in fact been employed by those companies. As a result of the fraudulent scheme,
during the relevant time period, Ransome applied for more than $163,000 in fraudulent UI benefits
provided under the expanded CARES Act.

                                                ***

In a separate case, Judge Conrad revoked Bryon Jones’s supervised release after the defendant
violated its terms by engaging in a scheme to defraud the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
According to court documents in this case, Jones, 66, of Charlotte, used false and fraudulent
business information to apply for and receive through his business, Ramses Air Freight & Transport,
Inc., $142,900 in COVID-19 relief funds disbursed by the SBA under the Economic Injury Disaster
Loan (EIDL) program. Jones, who was on a 10-year term of federal supervised release for a previous
drug trafficking conviction, was ordered to serve 24 months in prison and five years of supervised
release for the new violations.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King commended the U.S. Postal Inspection
Service, the FBI, and the Atlanta Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the
Inspector General, for their investigation of the Ransome case. Jones’s investigation was conducted
by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the SBA and the U.S. Probation Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Caryn Finley was in charge of the prosecution against Ransome. The Jones
prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Graham Billings.

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 Hotline at 866-720-5721 or
via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-
complaint-form. Members of the public in the Western District of North Carolina are also
encouraged to call 704-344-6222 to reach their local Coronavirus Fraud Coordinator.
Topic(s):                                            Component(s):
Coronavirus                                          USAO - North Carolina, Western


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