A South Pittsburgh woman has been sentenced to 51 months in federal criminal prison for her role in a scheme to defraud COVID-19 unemployment systems in several states.
Evelyn Blevins, 48, gave the impression before Judge Curtis Collier.
After her incarceration, she will be placed on probation for years.
From the plea agreement filed with the court, Blevins pleaded guilty to wire fraud and nuisance identity theft.
He was ordered to pay $109,683 in damages to labor dissidents in Tennessee and California, and to forfeit $109,683 in the United States as part of a financial judgment.
According to court documents, from June 2020 to August 2021, Ms. Blevins conspired with others to devise a scheme in which she defrauded the United States government and the governments of Tennessee, Alabama, Pennsylvania and California to offload cash from the program. COVID of the states. . relief systems in the form of unemployment insurance funded through the United States government.
Specifically, he acquired private information from others and used it to fraudulently make large online claims for cash intended through states to provide unemployment insurance assistance to those affected by the national pandemic.
He falsely claimed in the programs that Americans whose non-public data about the programs operated in those states. The states would then send debit cards to addresses in the Eastern District of Tennessee, and Blevins would get a percentage of the payment for the fraudulent claim. T
The defendant is personally guilty of fraudulently distributing approximately $110,000 in unemployment insurance funds.
The scheme itself is the fraudulent distribution of more than $550,000 in unemployment insurance funds.
“The defendant selfishly sought to attribute credit for federal and state efforts to those most affected by the COVID pandemic,” said U. S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton, III. “We remain committed to working with all law enforcement agencies to identify and prosecute those who apply for loans from federal relief programs, maximizing the deprivation of those who want it. “
“The defendant’s moves deceived a program designed for other people who were suffering due to the COVID pandemic,” said FBI Special Agent Joseph E. Carrico. Today’s conviction illustrates the continued commitment of the FBI and our federal and state law enforcement partners to hold accountable those involved in COVID-related aid fraud.
Assistant U. S. Attorney Steve Neff represented the United States. The investigation was conducted through the Office of the Inspector General for Labor Breakdown and the FBI as a component of the Smoky Mountain Financial Crimes Task Force.
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