An Atlanta podcaster has been sentenced to seven years in prison after it was discovered that he acquired millions of dollars through identity theft.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Jonathan Dupiton, the host of the Rich and Unemployed podcast, was ordered to serve seven years in prison after pleading guilty on Jan. 13 to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
The prison stint will be followed by three years of supervised release, and he will have to pay restitution in an unspecified amount.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dupiton concocted a scheme in which he would steal identities to obtain money through unemployment insurance benefits. From July 2020 to early 2021, his multi-million-dollar fraud scheme targeted California's Unemployment Insurance benefits program, which supplied temporary financial assistance to lawful workers who were unemployed because of the pandemic.
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Dupiton used stolen identities to file claims in California and masked his actual location with a VPN. When his claims were approved, he and his co-conspirators would send the benefits' debit cards to Georgia, and he would withdraw the money from ATMs, largely in Atlanta.
Prosecutors said he racked up $3.8 million, of which he withdrew $2 million.
"During the pandemic, while citizens were struggling with job loss and trying to make ends meet, Dupiton stole unemployment benefits by submitting false applications using hundreds of stolen identities," U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement. "His sentence underscores that anyone who seeks to exploit taxpayer-funded programs will be aggressively prosecuted and face substantial prison time."
While carrying out his scheme, Dupiton was also finishing a federal sentence at a halfway house for a prior fraud conviction involving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The 36-year-old appeared to brag about his illegalities, explaining on his podcast that his motto is "F.R.A.U.D. is dope," with the acronym standing for "Finally Rich After Unstoppable Determination."
