A state prison inmate suspected of participating in fraud to help inmates victimized by unemployment by Covid-19 pleaded no contest to charges he was charged with conspiracy to defraud, San Mateo County prosecutors said Tuesday.
Joseph Anthony Smith III was part of an alleged scheme operating out of the San Mateo County Jail.
Inmates from San Mateo County Jail, San Francisco County Jail and the state prison joined with residents of these areas to file 16 complaints of unemployment assistance fraud due to Covid-19 in June and July through the Employment Development Department.
The allegations totaled more than $250,000 for fraud, the district attorney's office said.
The complainants totaled thirty inmates in the San Mateo County Jail alone who were deprived of their liberty at the time.
In July, the San Mateo County Sheriff and District Attorney's offices began investigating and concluded that this was a fraudulent scheme.
In addition, a total of 21 individuals were identified as being involved in 16 of the fraud complaints that were filed between June 9 and July 30. The sheriff's office collaborated with other police departments to provide notification of multiple arrests and search warrants for residents at large involved in the alleged fraud.
During those searches, authorities recovered $150,000 in cash and continue to investigate more fraudulent movements. The inmates being held in the state's various jails and prisons were re-sentenced for the fraud crimes committed.
During a preliminary hearing in San Mateo County Superior Court on Tuesday, Smith pleaded no contest to the charges.
For these charges, Smith was sentenced to state prison for four years and eight months. The sentence is in addition to the 17 years he had previously been charged with murder with a firearm.
Smith's case was postponed until Oct. 20 on a restitution order, when the court will decide the amount Smith must pay the state for the fraud scheme.
The preliminary hearing for the other defendants were held this Wednesday and Thursday. Meanwhile, preliminary hearings for the other defendants are set for September 23, October 15 and November 6 of this year.
On Sept. 4, Freeman Owens, an inmate at the San Mateo County Jail, also pleaded no contest to the fraud charges against him and was subsequently sentenced to 16 months in prison, in addition to his current murder conviction, a sentence that totals 97 years or life in prison. Owens' case will resume on Oct. 15 for the filing of a report and restitution order.
[With information from BCN]
