Los Angeles, California – A former Amtrak employee from California was sentenced this week to more than two years in federal prison after conspiring with her husband to defraud state and federal agencies out of over $1 million in pandemic-related unemployment and sickness benefits.
Lizette Berrios Lathon, 48, of Moreno Valley, was ordered to serve 25 months in prison and pay $1,061,667 in restitution after pleading guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud, and identity theft charges. Her husband, 50-year-old Kenneth Andrew Lathon, received a 54-month sentence last year for related offenses, including unlawful firearm possession by a convicted felon. Together, the couple orchestrated a sprawling scheme that exploited emergency relief programs created during the COVID-19 crisis and manipulated a federal sickness benefits system over multiple years.
At the heart of the case is a pattern of deception that began years before the pandemic. While employed as a service attendant at Amtrak between 2000 and 2021, Lizette Lathon simultaneously operated several tax preparation businesses across Southern California. Through these businesses, she gained access to the personal identifying information of dozens of clients—information that would later be used to file fraudulent claims…