(FOX40.COM) — A Sacramento man was sentenced Monday to serve 4 years and six months in prison for charges related to a COVID-19 fraud scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday. Roosevelt Gulley III, 42, was also ordered to pay $575,425 in restitution.
Between July and September 2020, Gulley collected personal information that included names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers. He then electronically submitted this information to the California Employment Development Department in order to receive unemployment benefits intended for workers who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the attorney’s office said.
Gulley in the applications claimed that the beneficiaries were self-employed, which he knew to be false. He submitted at least 79 fake applications. After benefits debit cards were issued and mailed to the addresses Gulley listed in the applications, he tried to use the cards to withdraw money from various ATM’s. Gulley attempted to obtain $1.5 million, but only received more than $575,000 in fraudulent benefits, the attorney’s office said…