A Texas woman was sentenced Wednesday, June 17 in Los Angeles to one year, nine months behind bars for fraudulently obtaining more than $28,000 in federal disaster-relief money by falsely claiming she was a Pasadena resident living in a property damaged by the Eaton fire, and for falsely obtaining more than $54,000 in jobless benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joyce Turner, 57, of Rosharon, Texas was also ordered to pay restitution of $82,555.
Turner pleaded guilty in federal court last year to one count of fraud in connection with major-disaster or emergency benefits and one count of mail fraud.
According to her plea agreement, Turner submitted a fraudulent disaster-benefits application to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, falsely claiming she lived in Pasadena in a rental property that had been damaged by the Eaton fire.
In fact, Turner did not live in California.
FEMA, relying on Turner’s false and fraudulent claim, sent her $28,195 in wildfire disaster-relief money, papers filed in Los Angeles federal court show.
Turner further admitted that in August 2020 she submitted a claim for California unemployment insurance falsely claiming she had been working in California, lost work because of the COVID-19 pandemic and was entitled to unemployment-insurance benefits, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
California’s Employment Development Department provided Turner with $54,360 in jobless benefits, providing these benefits through a debit card mailed to Turner at an address in Los Angeles.