United States of America v. Johnny Hobbs

Abingdon, Virginia criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States government.



Johnny Hobbs, 37, joined co-defendant Farren Ricketts, 31, and others in a scheme to file fraudulent claims for pandemic unemployment benefits via the Virginia Employment Commission [VEC] website. Co-conspirators submitted unemployment claims containing materially false representations for various individuals who were known to be ineligible to receive pandemic unemployment benefits.



While incarcerated, Hobbs joined the scheme in May 2020, initially seeking to receive unemployment benefits for himself. After he was released from jail, Hobbs approached Ricketts, and the other co-conspirators, and accepted a limited role with their criminal enterprise submitting claims to the VEC and recertifying weekly claims for other co-conspirators.



Ricketts, who pleaded guilty to similar charges, will be sentenced later this week.



United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh announced the sentence today.



The Department of Labor - Office of the Inspector General, the Internal Review Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the Russell County Sheriff's Office, and the Norton Police Department in Wise County investigated the case.



Assistant United States Attorney Daniel J. Murphy is prosecuting the case.



18:371.F - CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD THE UNITED STATES (1/31/21)

(1)



18:1349.F - ATTEMPT AND CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT FRAUD - 18:1349 and 1341 (1/31/21)

(2)

CBOP: 60 months; S/R: 3 years; Fine: Waived; Restitution: $164,470.00, joint and several; S/A: $100.00