Millions in California coronavirus jobless benefits sent to out-of-state prisoners [Los Angeles Times :: BC-CALIF-BENEFITS-FRAUD:LA]
LOS ANGELES In the latest revelation of potential criminal fraud involving California jobless benefits, an analysis has found that more than $42 million in claims went to out-of-state prison and jail inmates, giving more clarity to what officials now estimate could be $4 billion in scammed coronavirus relief funds.
A large number of Florida inmates, including a man sentenced to 20 years for second-degree murder, are among the thousands of out-of-state prisoners who have allegedly received California pandemic unemployment benefits, according to a December analysis commissioned by the state Employment Development Department and reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.
The new total is nearly three times the $140 million in claim payments estimated last week by a group of California DAs and a federal prosecutor.
The analysis identified inmates receiving California benefits in other states, including Nevada, Illinois and South Carolina. Prison officials in Nevada and Illinois did not immediately comment on the allegations, but South Carolina Department of Corrections spokeswoman Chrysti Shain said her department had “not been notified by California authorities or anyone that any of our inmates are involved in this.”
Officials with the district attorney’s offices in Clark County and Washoe County in Nevada said that any allegations of inmate fraud allegations would be handled by Nevada’s attorney general’s office.
Richard Valenti, convicted in 1973 double murder, dies
VIDEO: Richard Valenti, convicted in 1973 double murder, dies By Patrick Phillips | December 16, 2020 at 3:58 PM EST - Updated December 16 at 5:42 PM
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - The man convicted of killing two teenage girls on Folly Beach died Wednesday, the stateâs Department of Corrections confirmed.
Richard Valenti, 77, died just before 2 p.m. of natural causes, according to South Carolina Department of Corrections spokesperson Chrysti Shain. His death was non-COVID-19-related, she said.
Valenti was convicted for the 1973 killings of 14-year-old Sherri Clark and 13-year-old Alexis Latimer.
Prosecutors said Valenti, a former sailor, kidnapped the girls on Folly Beach and took them to his home on East Arctic Avenue where he put nooses around their necks in a shower stall, kicked their chairs out from under them and watched them die. Authorities discovered their remains 10 months later in shallow graves on the beach