Couple Charged in COVID-19 Unemployment Benefits Fraud Conspiracy

Summary

A press release from Albuquerque announcing that an indictment charges Josette V. Martin, 35, and Tommy J. Apodaca, 42, with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. The indictment alleges that between May 2020 and October 2021 the defendants conspired to obtain unemployment insurance benefits from the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, funded through programs including Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation and Lost Wages Assistance, using the personal information of real and fictitious individuals. It also alleges they created fake identification documents and opened bank accounts and debit cards to spend the benefits. The release says each defendant faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted, that no trial date has been set, and that an indictment is merely an allegation.

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Full text

ALBUQUERQUE – A former couple are facing federal charges for allegedly conspiring to fraudulently obtain pandemic-related unemployment benefits by using stolen and fictitious identities to submit false claims through New Mexico’s unemployment insurance system.

According to the indictment, between May 2020 and October 2021, Josette V. Martin , 35, and Tommy J. Apodaca , 42, allegedly conspired to defraud the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions and the United States by fraudulently obtaining unemployment insurance benefits funded through federal COVID-19 relief programs, including Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, and Lost Wages Assistance.

The defendants allegedly used the personal information of real and fictitious individuals to submit fraudulent unemployment claims and obtain benefits to which they were not entitled. The indictment also alleges they used the personal information of others to create fake identification documents—including fake drivers’ licenses, fake tax forms, and fake social security cards. Further, the defendants allegedly opened bank accounts and obtained debit cards loaded with unemployment funds in order to spend the fraudulently obtained benefits.

Martin and Apodaca are charged with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Apodaca will remain in custody pending trial; Martin was released to a halfway house subject to stringent conditions pending trial. The trial date in this case has not yet been set. If convicted, each defendant faces up to 30 years in prison and up to 5 years of federal supervision.

Apodaca was already in federal custody at the time of the indictment. In April 2026, a federal grand jury separately charged him with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.

The FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Office of the Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jena Ritchey and Tavo Hall are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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www.justice.gov