Pandemic Darlings The pandemic economy, in original documents
Home Source documents Dothan Woman Sentenced to More Than Five Years in Federal Prison

Dothan Woman Sentenced to More Than Five Years in Federal Prison

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Alabama, dated September 4, 2024, announcing that Sommer Le Morris of Dothan, Alabama was sentenced that day to 65 months in prison and three years of supervised release, as announced by Acting United States Attorney Kevin P. Davidson. According to the plea agreement and other court records, from March 2020 through February 2021 Morris filed partial unemployment claims for 15 individuals falsely stating that they were entitled to expanded benefits, using others' names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers. Morris pleaded guilty on May 30, 2024 to mail fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft and acknowledged causing the Alabama Department of Labor to issue $186,478 in fraudulent claims. The judge ordered restitution in that amount.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Cite this document

“Dothan Woman Sentenced to More Than Five Years in Federal Prison.” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2024-09-05-dothan-woman-sentenced-to-more-than-five-years-in-federal-p-43283eb630/, SHA-256 ac52c261f3129b4101f794805e69261827350d459a1936517fdf3eac5bb03e2a.

Full text

PRESS RELEASE



Dothan Woman Sentenced to
More Than Five Years in Federal
Prison for Her Role in a COVID-19
Era Unemployment Scheme
Wednesday, September 4, 2024

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Alabama

        MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA – On September 4, 2024, a federal judge ordered that
47-year-old Sommer Le Morris, a resident of Dothan, Alabama, receive a sentence of 65
months in prison for her role in filing fraudulent unemployment claims through an
expanded Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act program,
announced Acting United States Attorney Kevin P. Davidson. Following her prison
sentence, Morris will be on supervised release for three years. Federal inmates are not
eligible for parole.

        Beginning in March 2020, the CARES Act and the Families First Coronavirus
Response Act provided for additional funding and expanded access to unemployment
insurance programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Alabama, a person
entitled to unemployment benefits could receive additional funding from the Alabama
Department of Labor. Alabama law also allowed an employer to file what is called a
“partial” claim on behalf of an employee who had been temporarily laid off due to a lack
of available work during the pandemic.

       According to the plea agreement and other court records, from March 2020
through February 2021, Morris filed partial claims for 15 individuals falsely stating that
they were entitled to the expanded unemployment benefits. Based on Morris’s false
representations, ADOL made significant payments, some through wire transfers, to
Morris and others that they were not eligible to receive. In her plea agreement, Morris
admitted to using the name, date of birth, and Social Security number of others to carry
out her scheme.
On May 30, 2024, Morris pleaded guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated
identity theft. During her plea hearing in May, Morris also acknowledged that her
scheme caused ADOL to issue $186,478 in fraudulent unemployment claims. The judge
ordered Morris to pay restitution to ADOL in that amount.

The United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and the Alabama
Department of Labor investigated this case, which Assistant United States Attorney
Russell T. Duraski prosecuted.

 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.

Updated September 5, 2024

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

FINANCIAL FRAUD
Component
USAO - Alabama, Middle

File and source

File
2024-09-05-Dothan-Woman-Sentenced-to-More-Than-Five-Years-in-Federal-Prison-for-Her-Role-in-a-COVID-19-Era-Une.pdf
Size
85,428 bytes
SHA-256
ac52c261f3129b4101f794805e69261827350d459a1936517fdf3eac5bb03e2a
Our copy
2024-09-05-Dothan-Woman-Sentenced-to-More-Than-Five-Years-in-Federal-Prison-for-Her-Role-in-a-COVID-19-Era-Une.pdf
Original
No public link identified.
Back to top