A California man, Ronnie Lamar Strawberry Jr., has been sentenced to 33 months in after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud. His sister, Raychelle Strawberry, who pleaded guilty to the same charge, was sentenced to 60 months of probation for her role in the offense.
The 39-year-old Ronnie Strawberry Jr. was ordered to pay $528,426 in restitution.
According to court documents, Ronnie Strawberry conspired with his sister and others to file false and fraudulent unemployment insurance claims under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. Strawberry filed fraudulent claims in both California and Arizona using stolen identities.
The scheme was sophisticated and used personal identifiable information — such as name, date of birth, and social security number — from more than 25 individuals to file online unemployment applications in Arizona and California.