Tracey Dotson, 49, of Detroit, was sentenced on Wednesday to over four years in federal prison for his involvement in a large-scale unemployment insurance fraud scheme. Dotson was also ordered to pay more than $900,000 in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Dotson, along with a co-defendant, orchestrated a scheme to defraud the federal government of approximately $1 million in funds meant for those who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The fraud was carried out using interstate wires, stolen Social Security numbers, and other forms of stolen identification.
The two defendants filed hundreds of false unemployment claims with state unemployment insurance agencies in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. They received hundreds of prepaid debit cards, issued in the names of unsuspecting victims, which were loaded with roughly $1 million in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance funds. These cards were sent to addresses in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Dotson and his accomplices withdrew more than $930,000 from the cards, using the funds for cash withdrawals and purchases that included high-end jewelry, luxury fashion items from Gucci and Louis Vuitton, drugs, a vehicle, and even a firearm.
Acting U.S. Attorney Julie A. Beck commented, “Taxpayer unemployment assistance funds diverted to the pockets of criminals during the pandemic resulted in fewer resources that were available for those genuinely in need at that challenging time.”
Beck emphasized the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s ongoing commitment to pursuing justice for those who took advantage of the global health crisis to illegally profit at the expense of taxpayers.
