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Home Source documents U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Meth Kingpin Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Drug Conspiracy and Stealing $2.1 Million from Pandemic Unemployment Insurance Agencies (USAO ED-MI 01/24/2024) (2024-01-30)

U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Meth Kingpin Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Drug Conspiracy and Stealing $2.1 Million from Pandemic Unemployment Insurance Agencies (USAO ED-MI 01/24/2024) (2024-01-30)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Michigan, dated January 24, 2024, announcing that United States District Judge David M. Lawson sentenced Robert Lampkin, 41, of Detroit, to 15 years in federal prison. The release states that Lampkin led a drug conspiracy that purchased over 9 kilograms of methamphetamine from a supplier in California, which codefendants JoShawn Bennett, Tiffany Stockman and Tammie Wade brought back to Michigan in airline luggage. It states that Lampkin and codefendant Brenden Lockridge separately used stolen personal identifying information to file fraudulent claims for pandemic unemployment assistance in multiple states. Lampkin's and Lockridge's sentences also require repayment of the $2.1 million as restitution.

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“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Meth Kingpin Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Drug Conspiracy and Stealing $2.1 Million from Pandemic Unemployment Insurance Agencies (USAO ED-MI 01/24/2024) (2024-01-30).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-meth-kingpin-sentenced-to-15-years-in-pris-7a29b0b72f/, SHA-256 3cff29dc68e175729e8f0bc311212ee103665b62cae49a6a5e8f5ea75bda5cb5.

Full text

PRESS RELEASE



Meth Kingpin Sentenced to 15
Years in Prison for Drug
Conspiracy and Stealing $2.1
Million from Pandemic
Unemployment Insurance
Agencies
Wednesday, January 24, 2024


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

DETROIT – A Detroit man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison today for leading
a drug organization that trafficked methamphetamine across the country, United States
Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced today. United States District Judge David M. Lawson
sentenced the leader of that organization for his role overseeing the drug conspiracy
and in a separate $2.1 million pandemic unemployment insurance fraud conspiracy.

Ison was joined in the announcement by Orville O. Greene, Special Agent in Charge of
the Detroit Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Irene Lindow, Special
Agent-in-Charge, Great Lakes Region, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector
General.

Robert Lampkin, 41, led a drug conspiracy that purchased over 9 kilograms of
methamphetamine from a supplier in California that codefendants JoShawn Bennett, 37,
Tiffany Stockman, 24 and Tammie Wade, 32, brought back to Michigan in airline
luggage. Lampkin and codefendant Brenden Lockridge, 26, separately used stolen
personal identifying information of other individuals to file fraudulent claims for
pandemic unemployment assistance in multiple states. Lampkin’s and Lockridge’s
sentences also require them to pay back the $2.1 million stolen from multiple states as
restitution.
“We will use every resource available to combat those who spread the scourge of illegal
drugs in our communities,” stated United States Attorney Dawn Ison. “We also won’t
cease our efforts to hold accountable those who used a global pandemic to enrich
themselves at the expense of taxpayers.”

“The men and women of the DEA and our law enforcement partners remain committed
to targeting interstate methamphetamine traffickers contributing to the nation’s drug
crisis. This sentence reflects our continued resolve to partner with all our law-
enforcement counterparts to fight greed, violence, and drug addiction,” said DEA
Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene.

"Robert Lampkin conspired with Brenden Lockridge to file fraudulent unemployment
insurance (UI) claims in the names of identity theft victims, receiving benefits to which
they were not entitled. They enriched themselves by defrauding a program that was
intended to assist struggling American workers during an unprecedented global
pandemic," stated Special Agent-in-Charge Irene Lindow, Great Lakes Region, U.S.
Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General. "We and our law enforcement
partners are committed to identifying and prosecuting the criminals who took
advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic by using stolen identities to fraudulently obtain
pandemic UI benefits."

The case was investigated by agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration and
Department of Labor Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Paul
Kuebler prosecuted the case for the United States.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF)
investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug
traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that
threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency
approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement
agencies against criminal networks.

Updated January 24, 2024

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

DRUG TRAFFICKING


Component
USAO - Michigan, Eastern


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