Inmate Pleads Guilty in Mississippi Unemployment Fraud Case

JACKSON, Miss. – Today State Auditor Shad White announced that Kenjarell Thomas, an inmate, has pleaded guilty to one count of Identity Theft, one count of Fraud, and one count of Wire Fraud.

Thomas, while serving time in prison, fraudulently applied for unemployment benefits using multiple other prisoners’ personal information and used his mother’s address to receive payments.

“My office found that during COVID, Mississippi handed out over half a billion dollars in illegal unemployment compensation payments,” said Auditor White. “We will continue to find as many of these fraudsters as possible and hold them accountable for their crimes.”

Thomas was sentenced by the Hinds County Circuit Court to 15 years to serve and ordered to pay a total of $37,470.53 in restitution.

Suspected fraud can be reported to the Auditor’s Office at any time by clicking the red button on the Auditor's website or calling 1-(800) 321-1275 during normal business hours.