Kari Marie Russo has been sentenced to 33 months and one day in federal prison for submitting numerous fraudulent unemployment insurance claims using stolen identities. U.S. District Judge James Donato handed down the sentence.
Russo, 46, and her co-defendant Steven Dunsmore, 35, of Oakland, were indicted by a federal grand jury on October 3, 2023. A federal grand jury indicted Russo on September 17, 2024, on a single count of failure to appear.
On December 10, 2024, Russo pleaded guilty to two counts of fraudulent use of an unauthorised access device, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of failure to appear.
According to court documents, beginning in June 2020, Russo and Dunsmore engaged in an elaborate scheme to submit fraudulent unemployment insurance claims to California’s Employment Development Department (EDD) using other people’s personally identifying information, such as their names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers, without their authorization.
As a result of the fraudulent applications, Dunsmore and Russo received approximately $336,545 in EDD funds.
Additionally, while Russo was on pretrial release so that she could participate in a residential drug treatment program, Russo left the program without permission and failed to appear in court on January 8, 2024, as ordered.
The U.S. Marshals Service captured her on June 11, 2024.
Dunsmore previously pleaded guilty on February 26, 2024, to two counts of fraudulent use of an unauthorised access device and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
Judge Donato sentenced Dunsmore on June 17, 2024, to 24 months and one day in federal prison and ordered him to pay $336,545 in restitution.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Donato also ordered Russo to pay $336,545 in restitution, jointly and severally with Dunsmore.
