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Eric Wilhoit, II, 29, of Fredericksburg, conspired with Odyssey Wilhoit, 23, Jeremiah Wilhoit, 26, Dejhaun Wilhoit, 26, from May 2020 through in or about January 2022, Virginia's US Attorney General Jessica D. Aber said. Eric, Odyssey, and Dejhaun are siblings. It was unclear how Jeremiah was related.
Eric Wilhoit admitted that he instructed his co-conspirators on how to make the claims. The group then used VPNs and false or anonymized email addresses in an attempt to hide the fraud.
Each member of the conspiracy recruited others to use their physical addresses to receive the prepaid debit cards that contained the unemployment benefits, federal officials said.
Eric Wilhoit and his co-conspirators made significant cash withdrawals from the prepaid debit cards, bought luxury goods, and at least one firearm with the benefits.
Specifically, Eric Wilhoit purchased a diamond ring, while his sister Odyssey Wilhoit purchased a Chanel purse, Louboutin shoes, along with many other items.
The loss associated with the unemployment fraud scheme impacting the Virginia Unemployment Commission was over $1.7 million.
While attempting to flee his arrest, Eric Wilhoit led law enforcement on a high-speed chase, resulting in him crashing his car with his minor children in the backseat, federal officials said.
It was not immediately clear if that was the same Stafford County pursuit that Wilhoit led when he was wanted for a weapons offenses out of Prince George's County, MD.
In April 2020, Wilhoit was arrested for trying to cash a check that had been altered from $1,500 to $11,000, authorities said. It had also been reported as stolen.
Wilhoit left the scene in a dark colored vehicle with several other occupants but was later taken into custody and charged with forgery, providing false identification to avoid arrest, and fugitive from justice.
Wilhoit on Thursday, June 15 was sentenced to 84 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution for conspiring to obtain pandemic unemployment benefits (UI) and his role in his sister’s mail theft and bank fraud scheme. Click here and scroll down for more on Odyssey Wilhoit's scheme.
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