“SACRAMENTO, Calif. (美联社) — California’s system for paying unemployment benefits is so dysfunctional that the state approved more than $140 million for at least 20,000 prisoners, local and federal prosecutors said Tuesday, detailing a scheme that resulted in claims filed in the names of well-known convicted murderers like Scott Peterson and Cary Stayner. From March to August, 多于 35,000 inmates were named in claims filed with the California Employment Development Department, 超过 20,000 being paid, according to Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert. At least 158 claims were filed for 133 death-row inmates, resulting in more than $420,000 in benefits paid “It involves rapists and child molesters, human traffickers and other violent criminals in our state prisons,” Schubert said. ASSOCIATED PRESS The main entryway leading into San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, 加利福尼亚州, is seen. More than 35,000 California inmates were named in unemployment benefit claims filed from March to August. More than 20,000 of them were paid. The list includes Peterson, who was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing his pregnant wife following a trial that riveted the nation. The California Supreme Court recently overturned Peterson’s death sentence and has ordered a lower court to review his murder conviction. Schubert confirmed there was a claim made in the name of Scott Peterson, but declined to provide further details. Peterson’s attorney, Pat Harris, said while Peterson’s name surfaced during the investigation, there is no evidence Peterson received unemployment aid from the state. “This investigation, when it’s completed, will show that he had not a thing to do with any kind of scheme to get fraudulent benefits,” Harris said. ASSOCIATED PRESS A California prosecutor said someone filed an unemployment claim in the name of convicted murderer Scott Peterson. Schubert listed a number of inmates there who had claims filed in their names, including Stayner, convicted of killing four people in or near Yosemite National Park in 1999; Susan Eubanks, a San Diego woman convicted of shooting her four sons to death in 1997; Isauro Aguirre, who was sentenced to death for the 2013 murder of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez in Los Angeles; and Wesley Shermantine, part of the duo dubbed the “Speed Freak Killers” for their meth-induced killing rampage in the 1980s and ’90s. Prosecutors said they learned of the scheme from listening in on recorded prison phone calls, where inmates would talk about how easy it was for everyone to get paid. They said the scheme always involved someone on the outside — usually friends or family members of the inmates, who would then receive the benefits. In Kern County, home to five state prisons, one address was used to receive benefits for 16 inmates. “In my nearly four decades as a prosecutor in this state, I have never seen fraud of this magnitude,” Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said. Reuters Photographer / Reuters A guard at San Quentin prison is seen checking doors of cells housing death row inmates. At least 158 claims were filed in California for 133 death-row inmates. In some cases, inmates used their real names. In others, they used fake names and even fake Social Security numbers. In one instance, an inmate used the name: “poopy britches,” Schubert said. “Quite frankly, the inmates are mocking us,” Schubert said. 迄今为止, 22 people have been charged in San Mateo County, including six people who were not in prison. Prosecutors said dozens of other investigations across the state are continuing. Prosecutors blamed the Employment Development Department, which has been overwhelmed by more than 16.4 million benefit claims since the pandemic began in March, resulting in a backlog that at one time totaled more than 1.6 million people. But prosecutors said in its haste to approve benefits, the department did not check unemployment claims against a list of prisoners, as many other states do. San Mateo District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said that when he notified the department about inmates fraudulently receiving benefits, they told him they could not cut off the payments until they were formally charged with a crime. The problem was so bad that on Monday, nine county district attorneys sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom asking for him to intervene. “We face a manifest problem that requires action, not talk,” said McGregor Scott, 我们. Attorney for the Eastern District of California. Employment Development Department spokeswoman Loree Levy said the agency has been working with the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General on cross-checking claims with inmates, saying they are “pursuing how to integrate such cross-matches moving forward as part of enhanced prevention efforts during this unprecedented time of pandemic-related unemployment fraud across the country.” In an email to the AP, Newsom called the fraud “absolutely unacceptable.” He said he first learned of the fraud earlier this year, which prompted him to order the department to “review its practices and take immediate actions to prevent fraud and to hold people accountable.” Newsom said he has ordered the Office of Emergency Services to set up a task force to assist prosecutors with their investigation. “While we have made improvements, we need to do more,” Newsom said.
California On The Brink: COVID-19 Rages And Closures Are Imminent
62 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["SAN FRANCISCO (美联社) — Much of California is on the brink of sweeping new restrictions on businesses and activities, a desperate attempt to slow the frighteningly rapid escalation of coronavirus cases that threaten to...
Associate Pastor Of Church That Defied California COVID-19 Regulations Has Died
181 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["The associate pastor of a California megachurch that defied a state order and instead opened for indoor services has died. Bob Bryant of the Water of Life Community Church in Fontana in Southern California died Mond...
California Certifies Its Electoral Votes, Officially Securing Biden’s Victory
152 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["California certified its presidential election Friday and appointed 55 electors pledged to vote for Democrat Joe Biden, officially handing him the Electoral College majority needed to win the White House. Secretary ...
California Governor Says State At COVID-19 ‘Tipping Point’
0 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["LOS ANGELES (路透社) - California’s governor said on Monday the state was at a “tipping point” in the COVID-19 pandemic that would soon overwhelm hospitals as political leaders nationwide turn to increasingly aggre...
GM Drops Support For Trump Administration Lawsuit Against California Clean-Air Standards
198 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["DETROIT (美联社) — General Motors says it will no longer support the Trump administration in legal efforts to end California’s right to set its own clean-air standards. CEO Mary Barra said in a letter Monday to environm...
Major California Donors To Urge Gov. To Pick Woman Of Color To Replace Harris
101 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["A coalition of major political donors in California will urge the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom (D), to appoint a woman of color to fill Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ Senate seat when she assumes office in Ja...
1 被杀, More Than 100 Displaced By Wildfire In Remote California Community
61 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["LOS ANGELES (美联社) — A week before Thanksgiving, 多于 100 residents were displaced Thursday by a wind-whipped wildfire that ravaged a remote mountain community in California and killed one person, authorities sai...
California Governor In Hot Water For Attending Dinner Party Amid COVID-19 Surge
91 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has found himself in the same hot water that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-加利福尼亚州) was in after her hair salon trip this summer, in his case for a dinner at Napa County’s ultra-exclu...