DOJ: Mother, daughter plead in jailhouse insurance fraud
MADERA COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A mother and her incarcerated daughter, plead guilty to a COVID-19-related unemployment insurance fraud scheme on Tuesday, according to the Department of Justice.
From June through Dec. 2020, court documents reveal that 30-year-old Makiah Miles of Compton, an inmate at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, obtained the names, dates of birth, and social security numbers of other inmates.
Miles then sent that information to her mother, 51-year-old Apryl Weston of Santa Maria, who attorneys say submitted claims in those inmates’ identities, as well as Miles’ own identity. The underlying applications falsely claimed that Miles and the other inmates worked as childcare providers, cosmetologists, and other occupations.
Court records state the applications claimed the inmates last worked within the prior few months, but recently became unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that they were currently available to work. The fraudulent claims were worth nearly $250,000.
Miles and Weston pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail fraud for submitting fraudulent unemployment insurance claims to the California Employment Development Department in the names of inmates, according to attorneys.
Court officials state the mother and daughter are scheduled to be sentenced on April 22 and could face a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com.
