Zachary T. Lee Acting United States Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia
Six individuals involved in a scheme to defraud the United States through pandemic unemployment benefits have been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Virginia. Stephanie Amber Barton and Hayleigh McKenzie Wolfe, both from Cedar Bluff, Virginia, received sentences of 12 months and one day each. Barton pled guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States and must pay $28,964 in restitution. Wolfe admitted to making false statements for emergency assistance benefits and was ordered to pay $13,978.
Jonathan Webb, who recruited others, including inmates at local jails, for filing fraudulent claims, was sentenced to 48 months in prison with a restitution order of $150,218. Terrence Brooks Vilacha received an 18-month sentence with a restitution payment of $14,894. Joseph Hass will serve 27 months and pay $19,316 in restitution. Brian Addair was sentenced to 24 months with a restitution amount of $22,284.
Additional defendants awaiting sentencing include Josef Ludwig Brown, Crystal Samantha Shaw, Christopher Kirk Webb among others. One defendant is scheduled for trial in May 2025.
Court documents reveal that between March 2020 and September 2021, Brown, Webb, and Shaw orchestrated a plan using personal information from inmates at SWVRJA-Haysi as well as friends to file fraudulent claims on the Virginia Employment Commission website. The total amount stolen through this scheme reached $341,205.
The investigation was part of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Task Force led by the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery. This task force aims to detect fraud across various programs involving over $5 trillion in COVID-19 spending.
The sentences were announced by Acting United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee along with Stanley M. Meador from the FBI’s Richmond Division and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. Agencies such as the Dickenson County Sheriff’s Office and the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority contributed to this investigation.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney M. Suzanne Kerney-Quillen and Assistant United States Attorney Danielle Stone are prosecuting the case.
