A Las Vegas resident, Lavell Deshon Roberts, has been sentenced to 33 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for his involvement in a scheme to defraud the government of nearly $240,000 in unemployment insurance benefits amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The sentencing was carried out by Chief United States District Judge Andrew P. Gordon.
Court documents reveal that on July 15, 2020, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on Roberts, uncovering a pistol, $50,000 in money orders, and 10 debit cards issued by the Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (DETR) in the vehicle he was driving. Between June and July 2020, Roberts used these debit cards to fraudulently withdraw unemployment benefits from ATMs in Texas, totaling $238,940 in stolen funds.
Roberts was indicted alongside co-defendant Corey Marcus Valrey by a grand jury in October 2022. Roberts entered a guilty plea to one count of wire fraud, while Valrey pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Valrey's sentencing is scheduled for July 11, 2025.
In addition to his prison sentence, Roberts has been ordered to pay restitution. The case was announced by United States Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Karon Ransom for the United States Secret Service. The investigation was conducted by the United States Secret Service, with Assistant United States Attorneys Mina Chang and Kimberly Frayn orchestrating the prosecution.