A Las Vegas man has been sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison for conspiring to defraud California’s unemployment system and committing identity theft, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada announced on Friday.
Emelio Vladimir Rochester, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Cristina D. Silva, who also ordered him to serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.
According to court documents, Rochester and co-defendant Joseph Holmes Jr. conspired between August 15 and September 18, 2020, to fraudulently obtain and use 17 California Employment Development Department (EDD) debit cards issued under stolen identities.
Rochester and Holmes used stolen personal information to file fake unemployment claims and then withdrew cash from ATMs in Santa Ana, Fountain Valley, and Garden Grove, California, using the EDD-issued debit cards.
On September 18, 2020, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police stopped a car driven by Rochester with Holmes as a passenger.
A search of the vehicle uncovered 17 EDD debit cards with different names, $89,710 in cash, five cell phones, three laptops, and a tablet.
The fraudulent claims linked to the debit cards were approved for at least $385,000, with at least $192,234.29 withdrawn from the accounts, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Rochester pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess counterfeit and unauthorized access devices and aggravated identity theft. He was also ordered to pay $192,234 in restitution.
Holmes Jr. pleaded guilty to the same charges and received a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence.
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