Rapper Who Bragged About COVID-Related Jobless Benefits Scam Agrees to Plead Guilty

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, dated July 6, 2022, announcing that Fontrell Antonio Baines, 33, a.k.a. "Nuke Bizzle," agreed to plead guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. According to his plea agreement, from July 2020 to September 2020 Baines exploited the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance provisions of the CARES Act to obtain benefits from the California Employment Development Department in the names of third parties, including identity theft victims. Baines admitted that 92 fraudulent claims were filed, with attempted losses of approximately $1,256,108 and actual losses of at least $704,760. An affidavit states that Baines bragged about the scheme in a YouTube music video called "EDD."

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Full text

                                      Department of Justice
                                        U.S. Attorney’s Office
                                     Central District of California


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                       Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Rapper Who Bragged About COVID-Related Jobless Benefits
 Scam Agrees to Plead Guilty to Federal Fraud and Firearm
                        Charges
     LOS ANGELES – A rapper who boasted in a YouTube music video about getting rich by
committing pandemic-related unemployment benefits fraud has agreed to plead guilty to federal
fraud and firearms charges, the Justice Department announced today.

      Fontrell Antonio Baines, 33, a.k.a. “Nuke Bizzle,” of Memphis, Tennessee, has agreed to plead
guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition
by a convicted felon.

     Baines is expected to plead guilty to the charges in the coming days in United States District
Court in downtown Los Angeles.

     According to his plea agreement, from July 2020 to September 2020, Baines unlawfully
exploited the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) provisions of the CARES Act to obtain
unemployment insurance money to which he was not entitled. Congress implemented the PUA
provisions to expand access to unemployment benefits to self-employed workers, independent
contractors, and others who would not otherwise be eligible. Baines abused the program to obtain
unemployment benefits administered by the California Employment Development Department
(EDD) in the names of third parties, including identity theft victims.

     The applications for these benefits listed addresses to which Baines had access in Beverly Hills
and Koreatown. As a result, Baines was able to take possession of and use the debit cards that EDD
pre-loaded with the unemployment benefits obtained through the fraudulent applications.

      For example, Baines used the identity of a Missouri man who briefly attended school – but
never worked – in California to apply for unemployment benefits. In September 2020, Baines used a
debit card issued on the basis of the fraudulent PUA claim filed in the Missouri man’s name to
withdraw approximately $2,500.

     Baines, who has been in federal custody since his arrest in October 2020, admitted that 92
fraudulent PUA claims were filed with EDD, resulting in attempted losses to EDD and the United
States Treasury of approximately $1,256,108 and actual losses of at least $704,760.

      According to an affidavit filed with a criminal complaint in this case, Baines bragged about his
ability to defraud the EDD in a music video posted on YouTube and in postings to his Instagram
account. In the music video called “EDD,” Baines boasts about doing “my swagger for EDD” and,
holding up a stack of envelopes from EDD, getting rich by “go[ing] to the bank with a stack of these”
– an apparent reference to the debit cards that came in the mail.

     Baines further admitted that in October 2020 at his Hollywood Hills residence he illegally
possessed a semi-automatic pistol with 14 rounds of ammunition. Baines was prohibited from
possessing the firearm because he had previously sustained felony convictions, namely a conviction
in 2011 in Tennessee state court for unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell
and a conviction in Nevada federal court in 2014 for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

     Upon entering his guilty pleas, Baines will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in
federal prison for the mail fraud count and 10 years in federal prison for the unlawful firearm and
ammunition possession count. Baines has also agreed to forfeit funds totaling $56,750 that were
previously seized by law enforcement.

    This matter was investigated by the United States Department of Labor – Office of Inspector
General, the United States Postal Inspection Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the California
Employment Development Department. Substantial assistance was provided by the United States
Marshals Service and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

     Assistant United States Attorney Ranee A. Katzenstein, Chief of the Major Frauds Section, and
Assistant United States Attorney Alexander B. Schwab, also of the Major Frauds Section, are
prosecuting this case.

       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.
Topic(s):                                              Contact:
Coronavirus                                            Ciaran McEvoy Public Information Officer
Firearms Offenses                                      ciaran.mcevoy@usdoj.gov (213) 894-4465
Component(s):                                          Press Release Number:
USAO - California, Central                             22-132


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