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U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Southwest Virginia Man Sentenced in Unemployment Benefits Scam (USAO WD-VA 03/14/2022) (2022-03-14)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Virginia, dated March 14, 2022, announcing that Jacob Hunter Hicks, 35, of Lebanon, VA, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The release states that, over the course of nine months, Hicks conspired with Leelynn Danielle Chytka, Gregory Marcus Tackett, Jeffery Ryan Tackett and others to file fraudulent claims with the Virginia Employment Commission on behalf of at least 37 otherwise-ineligible individuals. It states the total actual loss to the United States was at least $499,000. The Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Norton Police Department and the Russell County Sheriff's Office investigated.

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Cite this document

“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Southwest Virginia Man Sentenced in Unemployment Benefits Scam (USAO WD-VA 03/14/2022) (2022-03-14).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-southwest-virginia-man-sentenced-in-unempl-4372b0aa9c/, SHA-256 01dfcded134be5cdca0494ebc1239ad4bd9874823dc58121aff8432eea017336.

Full text

                                     Department of Justice
                                       U.S. Attorney’s Office
                                    Western District of Virginia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      Monday, March 14, 2022

     Southwest Virginia Man Sentenced in Unemployment
                        Benefits Scam
ABINGDON, Va. – A Southwest Virginia man, who conspired with more than 30 others in a scheme
to illegally obtain pandemic unemployment benefits, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to
defraud the government, and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and was sentenced last
week to 30 months in federal prison.

Over the course of nine months, Jacob Hunter Hicks, 35 of Lebanon, VA, conspired with Leelynn
Danielle Chytka, Gregory Marcus Tackett, Jeffery Ryan Tackett, and others to file fraudulent claims
with the Virginia Employment Commission on behalf of at least 37 otherwise-ineligible individuals,
with a total actual loss to the United States of at least $499,000.

U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh of the Western District of Virginia, Syreeta Scott, Special
Agent-in-Charge, Philadelphia Regional Office, U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Inspector
General, and Special Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal
Investigation Washington, D.C., Field Office made the announcement.

The Department of Labor - Office of the Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal
Investigation Washington, D.C., Field Office, the Norton Police Department, and the Russell County
Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel J. Murphy and Michael Baudinet prosecuted the case.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to
marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government
to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to
investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists
agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods,
augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and
techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information
and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. 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.
Component(s):
USAO - Virginia, Western

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2022-03-14-Southwest-Virginia-Man-Sentenced-in-Unemployment-Benefits-Scam-USAO-WD-VA-03-14-2022.pdf
Original
www.oig.dol.gov
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