Fresno man, Chowchilla inmate sentenced for COVID-19 unemployment fraud

A Fresno man was sentenced on Monday to more than five years in prison for his role in case involving the state’s massive unemployment insurance fraud scandal.

In March, Jason Vertz, 51, was indicted for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.

He was later convicted.

Working with an inmate at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, Vertz submitted claims in excess of $74,000 according to Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert.

According to court documents, substantiated with jail calls and email records, Vertz and 45-year-old Alana Powers submitted fraudulent unemployment insurance claims using the names, dates of birth and social security numbers of Powers and other inmates at the facility.

The claims stated that the inmates had worked as maids, cleaners, fabrication welders and other occupations, and that they were available to work — when in fact, they were incarcerated.

As part of the scheme, Vertz and Powers discussed paying the other inmates $600 for the use of their personal identifying information, and planned to keep the rest of the money, the indictment said.

The benefits were loaded onto debit cards that were then mailed to the addresses provided by Vertz and Powers.

Powers was also sentenced on Monday. Both were given five years and one month in prison.