U.S. Department of Labor OIG, South Los Angeles Woman Pleads Guilty to Scheming with Others to Use Stolen Identities to Fraudulently Obtain COVID Jobless Benefits (USAO CD-CA 04/24/2023) (2023-04-28)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California, dated April 24, 2023, announcing that Mykara Destiny Robinson, 24, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud as the 13th and final defendant in a conspiracy that used stolen identities of California prison inmates and others to obtain at least $993,181 in state unemployment insurance benefits. The lead defendants are Natalie Le Demola, who is serving a life prison sentence after a 2005 conviction for first-degree murder, and Carleisha Neosha Plummer. According to the plea agreement, from August 2020 to October 2020 Robinson and co-conspirators used 10 debit cards to withdraw approximately $68,742 from ATMs in Southern California. Demola pleaded guilty on March 7 and Plummer on April 17; Robinson's sentencing hearing was set for July 3.

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PRESS RELEASE



South Los Angeles Woman Pleads
Guilty to Scheming with Others to
Use Stolen Identities to
Fraudulently Obtain COVID
Jobless Benefits
Monday, April 24, 2023

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

LOS ANGELES – The final defendant in a conspiracy – led by a woman serving a life
sentence for murder – that used stolen identities of California prison inmates and others
to fraudulently obtain at least $993,181 in state unemployment insurance (UI) benefits
pleaded guilty today to a federal criminal charge.

Mykara Destiny Robinson, 24, of Los Angeles, who was charged under the incorrect
name of “Mykara Destiny Robertson,” pleaded guilty today to one count of bank fraud.

Robinson is the 13th and final defendant to plead guilty in this case, whose lead
defendants are Natalie Le Demola, 38, originally of Corona and who currently is serving
a life prison sentence after she was convicted in 2005 of first-degree murder, and
Carleisha Neosha Plummer, 33, of Los Angeles, a close prison associate of Demola’s until
her parole in July 2020.

The case’s other defendants are:

   •   Khanshanda Eugenea King, 32, of Los Angeles;
   •   Cleshay Johnson, II, 29, of Los Angeles;
   •   James Antonio Johnson, 32, of Los Angeles;
   •   Felicite Aleisha King, 42, of Los Angeles;
   •   Shafequah Lynete Mitchell, 34, of Los Angeles;
   •   Loresha Shamone Davis, 32, of Moreno Valley;
   •   Porsha Latrice Johnson, 33, of Lynwood;
   •   Donisha Lashawn Pace, 39, of South Los Angeles;
   •   Dominique Charmone Martin, 38, of Yucaipa; and
   •   Amber Jane Wade, 35 of Palmdale.

Demola, Plummer, and other co-conspirators “would acquire the personal identifying
information (PII), such as the names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers, of
individuals, including identity theft victims, who were not eligible for UI benefits,
including pandemic benefits, because they were employed, retired, or incarcerated,”
according to a 39-count indictment returned in May 2022.

Members of the conspiracy then used the information to make fraudulent online
applications for UI benefits from the California Employment Development Department
(EDD). Once the applications were approved, members of the conspiracy received EDD-
funded debit cards that allowed them to withdraw money from ATMs across Southern
California.

According to Robinson’s plea agreement, the conspiracy began in June 2020 and
Robinson joined it two months later. Robinson and other members of the conspiracy
assumed the identities of California prison inmates and used EDD debit cards issued in
their names to make fraudulent cash withdrawals of UI benefits, including pandemic
benefits, from Bank of America ATMs in Los Angeles County.

As to Robinson specifically, from August 2020 to October 2020, Robinson and her co-
conspirators used 10 debit cards to withdraw a total of approximately $68,742 in
fraudulently obtained EDD funds from ATMs in Southern California. But, in total during
the scheme, Robinson and other co-conspirators withdrew at least $993,181 in EDD
funds from approximately 151 fraudulent accounts.

United States District Judge John F. Walter scheduled a July 3 sentencing hearing for
Robinson, at which time she will face a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in
federal prison.

Demola pleaded guilty on March 7 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and
bank fraud, three counts of bank fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. She
faces a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years on the conspiracy and bank fraud
counts, and a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence for the aggravated identity
theft count, at her July 10 sentencing hearing.
Plummer pleaded guilty on April 17 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud
and bank fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. She faces up to 32 years in
federal prison at her July 14 sentencing hearing.

The case’s other defendants have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank
fraud, bank fraud, and/or aggravated identity theft based on their respective roles within
the scheme. Most defendants will face a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in
federal prison.

The investigation into this scheme was conducted by the Los Angeles El Camino Real
Financial Crimes Task Force, a multi-agency task force led by Homeland Security
Investigations that includes federal and state investigators who are focused on financial
crimes in Southern California. The California Employment Development Department, the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the United States Department
of Labor – Office of Inspector General, the Inglewood Police Department, and the United
States Marshals Service participated in this investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney David C. Lachman of the Terrorism and Export Crimes
Section and Assistant United States Attorney Nisha Chandran of the Cyber and
Intellectual Property Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.

Anyone with information about allegations of fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by
calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at (866)
720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-
fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Contact
Ciaran McEvoy
Public Information Officer
ciaran.mcevoy@usdoj.gov
(213) 894-4465

Updated April 24, 2023

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

FINANCIAL FRAUD


Component
USAO - California, Central


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