California Institute for Women prisoner Natalie Le Demola was sentenced to seven years in state prison after being convicted of leading a COVID-19 relief fraud scheme that gained over $1.5 million.
Demola was already serving a life sentence for a murder conviction where the victim was her mother.
As part of the July 10 sentence, Demola is also required to pay back $933,181.
“(Demola) led and organized a scheme in which she and her co-conspirators pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars allocated for residents of California who were unemployed on account of the COVID-19 pandemic,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “(Demola) made a cost-benefit analysis and decided that
