Three individuals were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Virginia, for their involvement in a scheme that stole more than $650,000 from state taxpayers through fraudulent unemployment claims during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jonathan Ricketts, 45, of Duffield, received an 84-month federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and making false statements related to emergency benefits. He was ordered to pay $669,124 in restitution jointly with Farren Ricketts.
Christopher Woliver, 37, of Big Stone Gap, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison. He pleaded guilty to similar charges and must pay $29,076 in restitution alongside Farren and Jonathan Ricketts.
Megan Caudill, 39, of Swords Creek, was sentenced to 30 days in prison and three years of supervised release—including one year of home confinement—after pleading guilty on the same counts. She was ordered to pay $166,204 in restitution with Farren and Jonathan Ricketts.
“I applaud our partners at the IRS, Department of Labor, and the Russell County Sheriff’s Office for their outstanding work on this case. Fraudsters who line their pockets at the expense of taxpayers will face accountability for their crimes,” said Acting United States Attorney Robert N. Tracci.
The fraudulent activity took place during the operation of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program (PUA), which expanded unemployment benefit eligibility amid Covid-19 disruptions. According to state data, Virginia paid out approximately $1.1 billion in fraudulent unemployment claims between April 2020 and March 2021 under this program.
Investigators found that Jonathan Ricketts and his wife operated Ricketts Advisory LLC—a business that employed up to seven people primarily for filing false unemployment claims during the pandemic. While incarcerated at Duffield Regional Jail, Jonathan Ricketts collected personal information from inmates and mailed it to Farren Ricketts for use in fraudulent filings; at least 101 false claims were attributed to their company.
Caudill worked as an employee at Ricketts Advisory LLC. In addition to receiving over $21,000 herself through fraudulently obtained benefits, she assisted eleven others with similar claims resulting in more than $166,000 being paid out improperly.
Woliver also worked for the company and personally received about $3,270 he was not entitled to; he recruited others whose false claims resulted in roughly $25,800 being disbursed by authorities.
The investigation involved several agencies including the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL OIG), Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Russell County Sheriff’s Office and Norton Police Department.
Robert N. Tracci announced these outcomes along with Kareem Carter from IRS-CI Washington D.C., Anthony P. D’Esposito from DOL OIG and Assistant United States Attorney Danielle Stone who prosecuted the case.
This investigation formed part of efforts by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Task Force—an oversight body established by Congress—to address fraud risks across multiple programs tied to over $5 trillion spent on Covid-19 relief.
