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U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Final Co-Conspirator Sentenced to Prison for COVID-19 Fraud Scheme (USAO D-AZ 09/07/2023) (2023-09-11)

Summary

Press release 2023-133_Green from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona, dated September 7, 2023, in case CR-22-01664-TUC-JCH (BGM)-1, announcing that Patrick Green of Longview, Texas, was sentenced by United States District Judge John C. Hinderaker to 14 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud. Co-defendants Jonathan Blake and Bethany Helene Green were sentenced in early August to six months and 37 months, and all three are ordered to pay $226,146 in restitution. According to the release, in May 2020 Bethany Green devised a scheme to apply for Arizona unemployment assistance and PUA funds for inmates at the Pima County Jail, charging a fee, typically $1,000, plus a weekly fee of $100.

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Cite this document

“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Final Co-Conspirator Sentenced to Prison for COVID-19 Fraud Scheme (USAO D-AZ 09/07/2023) (2023-09-11).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-final-co-conspirator-sentenced-to-prison-f-80ca5743a1/, SHA-256 37b22f62029d82b014cb308a7082fb6b6d1f54ebb5ba8cf47b2d7579726222a1.

Full text

PRESS RELEASE



Final Co-Conspirator Sentenced to
Prison for COVID-19 Fraud
Scheme
Thursday, September 7, 2023


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

TUCSON, Ariz. – Patrick Green, 48, of Longview, Texas, was sentenced last week by
United States District Judge John C. Hinderaker to 14 months in federal prison and
ordered to pay $226,146 in restitution. Green pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit
Wire Fraud.

Green was the final co-conspirator to be sentenced in this case. Jonathan Blake, 30, of
Tucson, Arizona, and Bethany Helene Green, 46, of Longview, Texas, also pleaded guilty
to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in this case. In early August, Judge Hinderaker
sentenced Blake to six months in prison, and sentenced Bethany Green to 37 months in
prison. All three co-defendants are responsible for, and ordered to pay, $226,146 in
restitution.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, to offset employees’ lost wages, the federal
government added $600 per week in federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)
to the states’ standard unemployment payments. In May 2020, shortly after this
government relief was announced, Bethany Green devised a fraudulent scheme to apply
for Arizona unemployment assistance and the additional PUA funds on behalf of
inmates at the Pima County Jail who were not entitled to receive unemployment
payments. Bethany Green conspired with inmates at the jail, including her husband,
Patrick Green, and another inmate, Jonathan Blake, to apply for benefits on their behalf.
Patrick Green and Jonathan Blake also recruited other inmates to the scheme. A total of
16 inmates provided their personal identifying information which Bethany Green then
used online to fraudulently apply and obtain unemployment benefits for the inmates.
Bethany Green charged the inmates a fee, typically $1,000, to complete the online
unemployment applications. Bethany Green then charged the inmates an additional
weekly fee of $100 to file the weekly certifications necessary to continue the
unemployment payments. In total, Bethany Green and her co-conspirators defrauded
the Arizona Department of Economic Security of $226,146 in false unemployment
claims.

United States Department of Labor-Office of Inspector General, Department of
Homeland Security-Office of Inspector General, and Arizona Department of Economic
Security-Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant
U.S. Attorney Mary Sue Feldmeier, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.


CASE NUMBER:          CR-22-01664-TUC-JCH (BGM)-1
RELEASE NUMBER:      2023-133_Green

                                           ###

         For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona,
                           visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
 Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest
                                             news.

Contact
                                                                             Public Affairs
                                                                            Zach J. Stoebe
                                                               Telephone: (602) 514-7413
                                                                 zachry.stoebe@usdoj.gov

Updated September 7, 2023

Topic
FINANCIAL FRAUD


Component
USAO - Arizona
Press Release Number: 2023-133_Green

File and source

File
2023-09-11-Final-Co-Conspirator-Sentenced-to-Prison-for-COVID-19-Fraud-Scheme-USAO-D-AZ-09-07-2023.pdf
Size
166,975 bytes
SHA-256
37b22f62029d82b014cb308a7082fb6b6d1f54ebb5ba8cf47b2d7579726222a1
Our copy
2023-09-11-Final-Co-Conspirator-Sentenced-to-Prison-for-COVID-19-Fraud-Scheme-USAO-D-AZ-09-07-2023.pdf
Original
www.oig.dol.gov
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