HARRISBURG, Pa. — Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced on Jan. 26 that two inmates and their outside accomplice have been arrested in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) scheme.
According to a press release, these three people were ringleaders in the scheme, and "conspired to provide false information" on PUA applications.
“These three individuals have been charged with conspiring to illegally take benefits from hard-working Pennsylvanians who continue to struggle through this immensely difficult time,” Shapiro said. “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.”
John Jones and Robert Palmer, both inmates at SCI Rockview in Centre County and SCI Huntingdon in Huntingdon County respectively, worked with Palmer's girlfriend, Elise Ballard, to illegally apply for PUA benefits for themselves and on behalf of inmates from across Pennsylvania.
Also according to the press release, individuals are only eligible for PUA benefits if they are both unemployed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and able to work. Therefore, individuals who are serving time in prison 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," the release said, "they are not eligible to receive PUA benefits for the period of their incarceration."
Altogether, Ballard submitted PUA applications for 22 inmates from 6 state correctional facilities. She also submitted applications for friends and family of the inmates who were not otherwise eligible.
After submitting these applications and receiving the PUA payments, she would send money to both Jones and Palmer through their prison JPay accounts or MoneyGram. In total, $226,082 in funds were issued as a result of the conspiracy.
All three of the defendants were charged in Dauphin County.
To date, 29 people have been arrested across the state for submitting fraudulent PUA applications. The conspiracy has amounted to more than $2.3 million in illegally obtained funds.
