Georgia woman sentenced for identity theft in Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – A Georgia woman was sentenced in Mississippi to nine years in federal prison for bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and committing COVID-relief fraud.

According to court documents, Chrystal Miesha Slaughter (Thompson), 34, used the personal identifying information of her victims to obtain loans from various banks, acquire lines of credit, purchase a luxury vehicle and finance trips to locations like South Beach, Florida.

While on pretrial release after being indicted by a federal grand jury on eight counts for committing these offenses, Slaughter fraudulently applied for unemployment insurance benefits from Mississippi and Georgia. She was fraudulently claiming Mississippi and Georgia unemployment insurance benefits simultaneously. She was then named in a ten-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in September 2021.

Slaughter was ordered to pay $205,262.89 in restitution to the victims in the case. She was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Jackson.

Information about attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can be submitted to the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud via a Web Complaint Form.