Baltimore Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Role in Maryland Unemployment Insurance Scheme (Press Release, March 17, 2025)

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland, dated March 17, 2025. U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin sentenced Devante Smith of Baltimore, Maryland, to 57 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for a role in an unemployment insurance fraud scheme in which victims lost at least $298,685. According to the guilty plea, beginning in June of 2020 and continuing through at least May 2021, Smith obtained identity victims' personal identifiable information to file fraudulent claims with the Maryland Department of Labor. Smith also sent co-defendant Tiia Woods text messages containing identity victims' private information to support the fraudulent claims.

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PRESS RELEASE


Baltimore Man Sentenced to Federal
Prison for Role in Maryland
Unemployment Insurance Scheme
Monday, March 17, 2025

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

Defendant obtained people’s personal information to file false and fraudulent
unemployment insurance claims.

Baltimore, Maryland – Today, U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin sentenced Devante
Smith, 30, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 57 months in prison followed by three years of
supervised release, in connection with his role in an unemployment insurance fraud
scheme. Through the conspiracy, victims lost at least $298,685.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with
Special Agent in Charge Troy W. Springer, National Capital Region, U.S. Department of
Labor’s Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), and Special Agent in Charge William J.
DelBagno of the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Baltimore Field Office.

According to the guilty plea, beginning in June of 2020, and continuing through at least
May 2021, Smith engaged in a conspiracy to defraud and obtain money under
fraudulent pretenses in connection with an unemployment insurance scheme. Smith
obtained personal identifiable information of identity victims to fraudulently file claims
for unemployment insurance with the Maryland Department of Labor (MD-DOL).

Smith and his co-conspirators used the unemployment insurance benefits, which were
designated to assist persons who were unemployed or underemployed due to the
COVID-19 national emergency, for their own personal use. Additionally, Smith sent co-
defendant Tiia Woods, 47, of Jacksonville, Florida, text messages containing private
information belonging to the identity victims such as identification cards and social
security cards to use in support of the fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act — a federal law enacted
in March 2020 — provided emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering from
the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act authorized increased
unemployment insurance (“UI”) benefits. UI benefits have historically been a state and
federal program that provided monetary benefits to eligible workers. The CARES Act
expanded states’ ability to provide UI benefits for many workers impacted by COVID-19,
including self-employed workers or independent contractors, who would not normally
be eligible for UI benefits.

The District of Maryland Strike Force is one of five strike forces established throughout
the United States by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute COVID-
19 fraud, including fraud relating to the CARES Act. The CARES Act was designed to
provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering the economic effects
caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The strike forces focus on large-scale, multi-state
pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational
actors. The strike forces are interagency law enforcement efforts, using prosecutor-led
and data analyst-driven teams designed to identify and bring to justice those who stole
pandemic relief funds.

For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please
visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. 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 at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF
Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-
complaint-form.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the DOL-OIG and FBI, along with Bank of America –
Detection and Complex Investigations Fraud Rings and Analytics, for their work in the
investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Evelyn Lombardo Cusson
and Harry M. Gruber who prosecuted the federal case

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources
available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-
md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

                                          ###

Contact
Kevin Nash
USAMD.Press@usdoj.gov
410-209-4946
Updated March 17, 2025

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

DISASTER FRAUD


Component
USAO - Maryland


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