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AUGUSTA, Ga. () – A woman from South Carolina has been handed a federal prison sentence and mandated to repay funds due to her involvement in a scheme that spanned several states to illegitimately acquire unemployment benefits.
Ricki Johnson, aged 42 and hailing from Trenton, South Carolina, will be incarcerated for 54 months following her guilty plea to Mail Fraud, as confirmed by U.S. Attorney Margaret E. “Meg” Heap for the Southern District of Georgia on Wednesday.
In addition to her prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Dudley H. Bowen has instructed Johnson to make restitution payments and forfeit $104,632, with an additional mandate of three years under supervised release after her prison term concludes.
Evidence presented in court revealed that Johnson submitted fraudulent unemployment benefit applications electronically to around 18 states over a span of two years. Among these states, Georgia, South Carolina, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania issued approximately $104,632 in benefits, some of which were provided via a debit card sent through the U.S. Mail.