Inmates face fraud charges for filing for unemployment

A group of Putnam County Jail inmates, incarcerated during the COVID-19 outbreak, are facing charges of theft and fraud for filing bogus claims to collect unemployment benefits.

The Putnam County Prosecutor’s Office Monday filed charges of theft and fraud against 19 inmates, alleging they scammed the Indiana Department of Workforce Development out of a collective $113,707 in jobless benefits while otherwise incarcerated.

Typically the inmate involved would have someone from outside the jail complete and submit his or her paperwork, including weekly vouchers, through Indiana Workforce Development.

The paperwork, however, clearly states that a claimant “cannot be incarcerated or hospitalized and be eligible for unemployment benefits.” Claimants are made aware that false statement could be considered fraudulent behavior subject to criminal prosecution.

The unemployment benefits subsequently would be deposited in the bank account of a relative or significant other.

“COVID drove a whole lot of it,” Det. Les McFarland of Marshall County, a Putnam County native, told the Banner Graphic Monday. “They (unemployment claimants) were not going in and meeting with people face to face, it was all over the computer.”

In determining the 19 defendants, investigator Kari Plessinger of the Prosecutor’s Office secured a list of Putnam County Jail inmates from the period and compared that with a list of suspect inmates having obtained unemployment benefits while incarcerated provided by fraud investigator Cheryl Riley of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

Plessinger was able to analyze credit card and bank records as well as review telephone calls between inmates and outside sources in preparing for the court filings.

The largest amount reportedly obtained was $18,434 by inmate Dylan Boster, 28, Bainbridge, who was incarcerated at the jail Aug. 7, 2020-March 3, 2021 and also was incarcerated at the Putnamville Correctional Facility March 23, 2021- Sept. 10, 2021.

Besides Boster, others charged in court filings Monday were:

-- Levi Abney, 28, Greencastle, $5,580.

-- Donald Bishop, 37, Fillmore, $7,081.

-- Tonya Boggs, 44, Fillmore, $3,474.

-- Gregory Boswell, 54, Cloverdale, $5,975.

-- Joshua Church, 34, Greencastle, $3,506.

-- Dustin Clark, 36, Cloverdale, $2,180.

-- Samuel Cole, 48, Cloverdale, $6,900.

-- Andre Giden, 45, Greencastle, $7,786.

-- Krystal McFadden-Smith, 35, Greencastle, $2,390.

-- Billie Jean Merlau, 57, Syracuse, $7,864.

-- Stephanie Meyer, 35, Indianapolis, $4,431.

-- Belissa O’Conner, 38, Greencastle, $8,344.

-- Richard Romandine, 43, Indianapolis, $3,541.

-- Thomas Schultheis, 56, Cloverdale, $3,795.

-- Maria VonTagen, 46, Bloomington, $3,848.

-- Richard Waggoner, 38, Brazil, $3,328.

-- Samuel Weekly, 42, Cloverdale, $7,760.

-- Edward Willis, 51, Greencastle, $7,490.

The investigation has another local angle to it as Det. McFarland of Marshall County in northern Indiana -- who is the nephew of Gene and Betty McFarland -- turned the Putnam County Prosecutor’s Office on to the caper. McFarland is a Bainbridge product and North Putnam High School graduate.

“These allegations would never have seen the light of day without the persistence of Det. Les McFarland of the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department,” Prosecutor Bookwalter praised. “He investigated these types of allegations in his own jail and tried to pass on this information to the Putnam County Jail. When he could not get a response, he contacted my office directly. Les then assisted my investigator, Kari Plessinger, and Indiana Workforce Development in the investigation of Putnam County Jail inmates.”