Citrus Heights Couple Sentenced for $1 Million Unemployment Insurance Benefits Fraud Scheme

Citrus Heights residents Deshawn Oshaea Campbell, 38, and Rochelle Pasley, 35, were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Daniel J. Calabretta to seven years and three months and five years and five months respectively and ordered to pay $1,157,000 in restitution, Acting U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Sanchez announced.

According to court documents, between June 2020 and December 2020, Campbell and Pasley conspired to defraud by filing fraudulent unemployment insurance claims with the California Employment Development Department (EDD) seeking Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits under the CARES Act. During the conspiracy, the defendants obtained the identifying information of other individuals and used their identities to submit dozens of fraudulent claims.