Cynthia Hernandez of Victorville pleaded guilty to gaining $515,000 by filing 29 fraudulent COVID-19 relief applications using the names of California state prisoners Jan. 23.
She will be sentenced on one count of mail fraud and one count of access device fraud April 17. She faces a maximum sentence of 35 years for both counts, according to the Department of Justice’s press release.
Federal prosecutors had originally also charged Hernandez with two counts of aggravated identity theft in their Sept. 9 indictment.
Hernandez had filed the fraudulent applications with California’s Employment Development Department (EDD). The department was carrying out a new program using funds from
