Michele Beckwith Acting U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California
Citrus Heights residents Deshawn Oshaea Campbell, 38, and Rochelle Pasley, 35, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Daniel J. Calabretta for their involvement in a $1 million unemployment insurance fraud scheme. Campbell received a sentence of seven years and three months, while Pasley was sentenced to five years and five months. Both were ordered to pay $1,157,000 in restitution.
Court documents state that between June 2020 and December 2020, Campbell and Pasley conspired to defraud the California Employment Development Department (EDD) by filing fraudulent unemployment insurance claims under the CARES Act’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. They used the identities of other individuals to submit dozens of false claims. Many of those whose information was used did not live in California and were not eligible for benefits.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has been committed to combatting fraud that abuses the provisions of the CARES Act,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Sanchez. “We will continue to prosecute fraud arising out of the pandemic and bring offenders to justice.”
The defendants listed mailing addresses they controlled or those belonging to family and friends on their applications. EDD approved more than 50 fraudulent claims and directed Bank of America to issue debit cards containing benefit funds. Campbell and Pasley then used these cards at ATMs across California and made direct purchases for personal use.
“These defendants stole from our nation’s unemployment insurance program by fraudulently filing for UI benefits in the names of individuals who were not entitled to such benefits. They took advantage of the UI program at a time when so many deserving American workers were suffering from pandemic-related economic challenges. The U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General remains committed to combating UI fraud and holding individuals accountable for their fraudulent schemes. I would like to acknowledge the outstanding investigative work of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the California Employment Development Department-Investigations Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California in this collaborative investigative effort,” said Quentin Heiden, Special Agent-in-Charge, Western Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.
In addition to mail fraud charges related to this scheme, Campbell also pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm after having previously been convicted of a felony.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, and EDD – Investigation Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Delaney and Justin Lee prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of a larger operation under one of five interagency COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force teams set up by the Department of Justice in California's Eastern and Central Districts. These strike forces combine law enforcement resources with prosecutorial efforts to target large-scale pandemic relief fraud carried out by criminal groups or transnational actors.
