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John Jones, an inmate at SCI Rockview in Centre County, and Robert Palmer, an inmate at SCI Huntingdon in Huntingdon County, were charged with illegally applying for PUA benefits for themselves and on behalf of inmates from across the state, Attorney General Josh Shapiro said.
Jones submitted PUA applications for 10 inmates including seven from SCI Rockview, two from SCI Camp Hill, and one from SCI Houtzdale, Shapiro said.
Palmer’s girlfriend and outside accomplice Elise Ballard, of Johnstown, submitted PUA applications for 22 inmates from six state correctional facilities, Shapiro said.
She submitted 10 from SCI Huntingdon, one from SCI Somerset, one from SCI Mahanoy, Shapiro said.
Ballard also illegally submitted PUA applications for friends and family of the inmates who were not otherwise eligible, Shapiro said.
After submitting the applications, Ballard received the PUA payments in the form of US Bank debit cards issued by the Department of Labor and Industry, Shapiro explained.
She would then send payments to Jones and Palmer through their prison JPay accounts or MoneyGram. The total PUA funds associated with the applications was $226,082, Shapiro said.
To date, the Office of Attorney General has charged 29 individuals, including 24 inmates and their accomplices, across the state for submitting fraudulent PUA applications amounting to more than $2.3 million in illegally obtained PUA funds, Shapiro said.
“These three individuals have been charged for conspiring to illegally take benefits from hard-working Pennsylvanians who continue to struggle through this immensely difficult time,” said Shapiro.
“As I’ve said previously, these arrests are not the end of our investigation, and my office will continue to track down those heading these schemes and bring them to justice.”
Individuals are only eligible for PUA benefits if they are both unemployed for reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic and available to work. In order to receive benefits, an individual must access the PUA website and file a PUA claim. The applicant is required to enter personal identifying information and answer eligibility questions, Shapiro said.
Individuals who are serving a sentence of incarceration, or who are detained pending a criminal trial, are neither available for work nor unemployed for reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, they are not eligible to receive PUA benefits for the period of their incarceration, Shapiro explained.
Individuals who apply for emergency unemployment benefits when they are employed or incarcerated are breaking federal and state law, Shapiro said.
Individuals found to be involved with organized efforts to obtain emergency unemployment benefits illegally can face significant prison time and financial penalties, Shapiro said.
All three defendants were charged in Dauphin County.
The case will be prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Heather Castellino.
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