A California woman was sentenced to 18 years in prison for her role in a conspiracy to defraud at least five states of more than $3.5 million in pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits.
According to court documents, from April 2020 through March 2021, Heather Ann Huffman, 52, led and organized several others, including family members and close friends, in a conspiracy to defraud the Virginia Employment Commission, the Washington State Employment Security Department and the California Employment Development Department, of more than $3.5 million in unemployment insurance benefits.
Huffman’s conspiracy specifically targeted benefits that had been expanded to offset the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To obtain these benefits, Huffman, a registered nurse at the Department of Veteran Affairs Holmes McGuire Medical Center in Richmond, and others filed false and misleading applications in the names of identity theft victims, witting co-conspirators and inmates of state and federal prisons.
Among other information, Huffman and her conspirators included in these applications materially false wage and employment histories and false contact information, such as physical and mailing addresses, email addresses and phone numbers, that did not, in fact, belong to the purported applicants.
To further their conspiracy, Huffman and others obtained and shared among themselves the personal identifying information of others, created and maintained email accounts purportedly belonging to those individuals and falsified and forged various documents to substantiate the information they had included in the false benefit applications.
Conspirators also identified nominee addresses in each of the targeted states at which they falsely claimed the purported applicants lived and worked.
Conspirators then directed the targeted states to send benefit payments to prepaid debit cards mailed to various addresses in Virginia, including Huffman’s former residential addresses.
As the conspiracy progressed, Huffman also opened a P.O. Box in the name of a fictitious non-profit, “Heather’s Homeless Services,” to which she thereafter directed the targeted states to mail the prepaid debit cards.
Huffman used her work computer to research available benefits, file and access claims and falsify documents in furtherance of the conspiracy.
In total, Huffman and her conspirators submitted more than 220 applications in the names of more than 120 individuals to at least five different states through which they sought to receive more than $3.5 million and actually obtained more than $2 million.
“While employed with the federal government, Huffman led a criminal conspiracy to steal more than $2 million in pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits, betraying the public trust and depriving benefits to those who desperately needed assistance during an unprecedented time of financial hardship,” stated Acting Special Agent in Charge Troy W. Springer of the National Capital Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.
Huffman’s sentencing was originally scheduled for Nov. 29, 2022, but she failed to appear that day without notice or explanation.
Prior to her disappearance, Huffman took measures to flee prosecution and conceal her whereabouts, including depleting her bank accounts, selling her vehicle and turning her phone off.
Through means unknown, Huffman obtained the PII of a real person, assumed that person’s identity, and procured counterfeit government identification and credit cards in the name of her false alias.
Following Huffman’s disappearance, the U.S. Marshals Service opened a fugitive investigation.
This extensive, months-long investigation uncovered evidence that the defendant, under a false identity, was living and working as a registered nurse in Kansas.
On March 4, 2023, approximately 95 days after Huffman’s flight from prosecution, she was apprehended by the USMS in Kansas at an extended stay hotel.
“Huffman organized a massive VEC fraud conspiracy and abused her position as a federal employee to steal funds meant for those struggling with employment security and the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber. “To add insult to injury, when her time came to be held accountable at her initial sentencing hearing, she fled from the law.”
Huffman is the last of the defendants to be sentenced in this case.
Convictions in case
- Heather A. Huffman, 54, Concord, Calif., 216 months, Convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud; Aggravated Identity Theft
- Sheldon L. Huffman, 31, Richmond, 60 months, Convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud; Aggravated Identity Theft
- Anthowan Daniels, 35, Richmond, 42 months, Convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud; Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon
- Dorothea Rosado, 54, Kennesaw, Ga., 36 months, Convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud; Aggravated Identity Theft
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Crystal Graham
