A Jonesville, Virginia woman, who admitted to heading a conspiracy that defrauded the government of more than $1.5 million in pandemic-related unemployment benefits, was sentenced today to 10 years in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution.
Farren Gaddis Ricketts, 31, and her co-conspirators concocted a scheme to gather personal identification information and then submit unemployment claims to the Virginia Employment Commission website for individuals who were known to be ineligible to receive pandemic unemployment benefits, including various inmates in Virginia Department of Corrections facilities.
According to court documents, Ricketts developed a business entity called "Ricketts Advisory, LLC," registered it with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, and advertised as a financial services company that helped with filing pandemic unemployment claims.
In addition to receiving unemployment benefits herself, Ricketts charged fees to over 120 of her co-conspirator "clients" for the service of filing their fraudulent claims.