A Mississippi inmate has been sentenced to more time behind bars after using fellow inmates’ personal information to apply for unemployment benefits.
State Auditor Shad White announced Wednesday that Kenjarell Thomas pleaded guilty to counts of identity theft, fraud, and wire fraud. Thomas was found as part of the auditor’s “Operation Payback” initiative to be fraudulently applying for unemployment benefits.
Thomas “used multiple other prisoners’ personal information and used his mother’s address to receive payments” through the program, per a news release. He was sentenced by the Hinds County Chancery Court to 15 years to serve and ordered to pay nearly $37,500 in restitution.
Thomas had previously been sentenced in 2019 to 20 years in prison for manslaughter.
