Source: Office of United States Attorneys
ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County, Missouri on Friday admitted possessing stolen identities and engaging in several schemes, including one in which he falsely obtained COVID-19 pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits.
Daryl Jones Jr., 45, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to three felonies: conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and wire fraud.
Between June 22, 2020, and July 15, 2020, the State of Pennsylvania deposited $84,592 in COVID-19 pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits on debit cards fraudulently issued in the identities of Jones and four others. Debit cards were issued in the stolen identities of four more people, but no deposits were made.
Jones obtained some of the personal information to set up the accounts from Cheryl Johnson, his girlfriend, who had supervised the victims while employed at various St. Louis area businesses.
On June 3, 2021, Jones submitted counterfeit pay stubs from a fake business associated with Johnson to obtain a $31,700 vehicle loan. He and Johnson submitted counterfeit insurance identification cards to accept delivery of the vehicle. On June 25, 2021, they arrived at the St. Louis County home of James Whitiker in that vehicle, as law enforcement was performing a court-approved search. Investigators found a notebook containing the names, Social Security numbers and birthdates of about 35 individuals, two more pieces of paper with the identifying information of 18 others, three stolen identification documents, nine Pennsylvania unemployment insurance benefit debit cards and stolen credit and debit cards.
Jones is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29.
Johnson, 44, pleaded guilty February 20 to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and wire fraud. She is scheduled to be sentenced in May. Whitiker, 43, pleaded guilty in July to a conspiracy charge and was sentenced in October to three years of prison. He admitted using two debit cards during the conspiracy and knowing that Jones and Johnson were using his home to commit the unemployment fraud.