A state prison inmate suspected of participating in a fraud scheme to help inmates suffering from unemployment due to Covid-19 has pleaded no contest to charges of 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 at the San Mateo County Jail, San Francisco County Jail and state prison joined with residents in those areas to file 16 COVID-19 unemployment assistance fraud complaints in June and July through the Employment Development Department.
The complaints accumulated more than 250 thousand dollars for fraud, according to