OHIO — Darmani Hawkins, 21, of Aurora, has been sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for his role in two separate fraud schemes that targeted COVID-19-era unemployment benefits and the U.S. Postal Service.
U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent handed down the sentence after Hawkins pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and mail theft.
Hawkins was also ordered to pay $681,114.14 in restitution and will serve three years of supervised release following his imprisonment.
According to court documents, Hawkins participated in schemes between 2020 and 2023 to fraudulently obtain pandemic unemployment benefits and steal checks from the mail.
In the first scheme, Hawkins and his co-conspirators exploited the CARES Act, designed to assist those unemployed due to COVID-related shutdowns.
They submitted fraudulent unemployment applications to multiple states, falsely claiming eligibility for benefits.
Once approved, states mailed unemployment benefits in the form of debit cards, which Hawkins and others used to withdraw cash for personal use.