California inmate convicted in jobless benefits scheme

A California Institution for Women inmate serving a life sentence for murdering her mother became the 14th person convicted in a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $1.5 million in California unemployment insurance benefits between June 2020 and April 2021. The benefits were mostly relief payments earmarked for California residents who were unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, prosecutors said.

Natalie Le Demola, 38, was sentenced Monday to 84 months after pleading guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, three counts of bank fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft, said U.S. District Court Central District of California spokesman Ciaran McEvoy.

"Ms. Demola led and organized a scheme in which she and her co-conspirators pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars," prosecutors said during the sentencing hearing. "She made a cost-benefit analysis and decided that the money and influence, including among fellow inmates, that she stood to gain was worth the additional penalties she faced if she were caught."

Total loss was $1.54 million, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Ms. Le Demola and others acquired names, dates of birth and social security numbers and used the information to make fraudulent online applications for benefits through the California Employment Development Department (EDD).

"Once the applications were approved, members of the conspiracy received EDD-funded debit cards that allowed them to withdraw money from ATMs," Mr. McEvoy said.

Prosecutors said Ms. Le Demola is eligible for parole in July 2026. Ms. Le Demola was convicted in 2005 for first-degree murder. She was 16 years in 2001 old when she and Terry Bell, her then 17-year-old boyfriend, plotted to beat and kill her mother at her Corona home after she told them she did not want the couple to date. Mr. Bell is currently serving his sentence at California State Prison-Los Angeles County in Lancaster, according to state prison records. He is also eligible for parole in July 2026, records show.