Victorville man sentenced for $170,000 in unemployment fraud

A Victorville man was sentenced to more than two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to fraudulently spending more than $170,000 with unemployment benefit cards in other people's names.

Keheir Parker, 25, pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to effect illegal transactions with access devices.

U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer Dorsey sentenced Parker to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release on Monday.

Parker was also ordered to pay $170,715.78 — the amount authorities said he illegally obtained — in restitution to the California Employment Development Department, the agency responsible for providing unemployment insurance benefits.

A co-conspirator, Robert Barber, also agreed last year to plead guilty to the same charge as Parker. Records show he has yet to be sentenced.

Along with a rise in the unemployment rate due to COVID-19, fake jobless claims became rampant in California and the nation.

In October 2021, state officials said at least $20 billion was given away in fraudulent benefits since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the Associated Press reported.

That year in September, police in Las Vegas pulled over a white Mercedes being driven by Parker with Barber as a passenger.

Parker had an outstanding arrest warrant and was taken into custody. He was detained with more than $4,500 on him, according to court documents.

Officers also found more than $2,000 in the vehicle, more than $5,200 on Barber, and 12 EDD unemployment benefit debit cards, all in different names.

A special agent with the U.S. Department of Labor investigating the case said police asked Parker about the debit cards, and he "claimed they all belonged to his family members."

"None of the 12 cards recovered were in the names of someone with the last name PARKER," the agent wrote in a criminal complaint. "The 12 cards were all issued under 12 different last names."

ATM receipts were reportedly found in the car showing the cards were used for withdrawing $7,400 in cash.

Federal authorities said Monday that at least $249,460 in unemployment benefits were approved for claims linked to the 12 cards.

Of the $170,715.78 fraudulently obtained from the cards, $148,400 was in ATM cash withdrawals, and $22,315.78 was used for purchases, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District Nevada.

As part of his plea agreement, Parker admitted that he conspired with others to submit at least one of the unemployment claims associated with the 12 cards "without authorization and knowledge and approval of the individuals involved."

In early February, another Victorville resident, Fantesia Davis, 32, was indicted for allegedly being part of a separate $25 million unemployment insurance fraud scheme.

Fantesia was one of eight people charged in the fraud scheme that prosecutors allege involved the defendants creating fictitious email accounts and using different addresses throughout Southern California for the fraudulent claims prosecutors allege.

After the defendants received the debit cards for the claims in the mail, they made cash withdrawals at different locations on different days and times and in varying amounts, all to avoid detection by government authorities, prosecutors allege.

The defendants allegedly spent the money on vehicles, furniture, handbags, jewelry, and other items and services, prosecutors say.

Prosecutors say two defendants were inmates in California prisons during the scheme.

Daily Press reporter Martin Estacio may be reached at 760-955-5358 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @DP_mestacio.