Adrian Fluellen, 29, from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was sentenced for his role in a multi-state, million-dollar unemployment insurance fraud scheme aimed at defrauding the U.S. government and the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Maryland of funds earmarked for unemployment assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 29-year-old was sentenced on Tuesday (April 30) to a substantial 51 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $900,000 in restitution, ensuring the severity of his actions is duly recognized.
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Court documents said Fluellen and a co-defendant conspired to defraud the federal government and the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Maryland of roughly $1 million in funds to support individuals who had lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pair committed their crimes through the use of interstate wires and the unauthorized possession and use of social security numbers and other means of identification belonging to other individuals.
Fluellen pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in February 2024.
The 29-year-old and his co-defendant used stolen personal identification. They filed hundreds of false unemployment claims with state unemployment insurance agencies in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Maryland in the names of other individuals without their knowledge or consent.
The pair then received hundreds of Bank of America prepaid debit cards in the names of those individuals loaded with roughly $1 million in pandemic unemployment assistance funds at addresses in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Fluellen, his co-defendant, and their accomplices then successfully unloaded more than $930,000 from the cards via cash withdrawals and purchases that included jewelry, drugs, at least one vehicle, and at least one firearm.