Georgia Inmate Sentenced for Orchestrating Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Scheme From Jail (Press Release)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Georgia dated February 10, 2023. It announces that Jacob Garner of Milledgeville was sentenced on Feb. 9 by Chief U.S. District Judge Marc T. Treadwell to 24 months in prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to theft of United States government funds. According to court records, the release states, Garner directed co-defendant Lindsey Garner (née Quinton) from the Baldwin County Jail to file unemployment claims for themselves and two inmates, and two claims were issued totaling $24,105. It reports that Quinton pleaded guilty on Aug. 24, 2022, and was sentenced to five years of probation on Nov. 2, 2022.

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PRESS RELEASE



Georgia Inmate Sentenced for
Orchestrating Pandemic
Unemployment Fraud Scheme
From Jail
Friday, February 10, 2023

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Georgia
MACON, Ga. – A Georgia inmate who admitted he conducted a pandemic
unemployment insurance fraud scheme from behind bars, which included using the
personal identifiable information (PII) of other inmates, was sentenced to prison this
week for his crime.

Jacob Garner, 34, of Milledgeville, Georgia, was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison
to be followed by three years of supervised release by Chief U.S. District Judge Marc T.
Treadwell on Feb. 9 after he previously pleaded guilty to theft of United States
government funds. Garner’s federal sentence will be served consecutively to the parole
revocation sentence he is currently serving in Baldwin County, Georgia. There is no
parole in the federal system.

According to court records, Garner was an inmate at the Baldwin County Jail in 2020
when a Baldwin County detective located messages between Garner and his then
girlfriend and co-defendant, Lindsey Garner (née Quinton), 32, of Milledgeville,
discussing filing fraudulent unemployment insurance/pandemic unemployment
assistance (UI/PUA) claims to the Georgia Department of Labor (GA-DOL).

U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG) agents investigated
and discovered that Garner instructed Quinton to obtain fraudulent UI/PUA loans for
both themselves and two inmates. Ultimately, of the four claims, only two claims were
issued: $10,329 in Quinton’s name and $13,776 in Garner’s name, totaling $24,105.
Quinton was employed at the time and was not eligible for the pandemic loans;
incarcerated individuals are also not eligible for UI/PUA benefits. All four of the claims
listed Quinton’s former mailing address and were submitted from the same IP address.
In addition, the email addresses used to obtain fraudulent UI/PUA loans were linked
back to Quinton’s personal email account. A search of Garner’s jail cell found a list of
inmates with their PII, including social security numbers and dates of birth. Both Garner
and Quinton admitted to their roles in the scheme; Quinton pleaded guilty to theft of
government funds on Aug. 24, 2022, and was sentenced to serve five years of probation
on Nov. 2, 2022.

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 via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-
fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor-Office of Inspector General
(DOL-OIG), the United States Secret Service (USSS) and the Baldwin County Sheriff’s
Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Kalim prosecuted the case.
Updated February 10, 2023

Topics
DISASTER FRAUD

FINANCIAL FRAUD
Component
Criminal - Criminal Fraud Section

USAO - Georgia, Middle


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