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July 6, 2007
A Georgia man apparently on his way to getting $125,000 in unemployment benefits for 49 imaginary people — all named Ramirez or Garcia — will spend more than two years behind bars.
U.S. District Judge Ralph Tyson on Thursday sentenced Drewey Pierre Whittaker, 46, formerly of Villa Rica, Ga., to 28 months in prison — the maximum term recommended.
The judge also ordered Whittaker to repay the Federal Emergency Management Agency $39,835.
Whittaker pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and two counts of illegal use of Social Security numbers.
According to the terms of Whittaker’s plea agreement, Tyson dismissed four other wire fraud and nine illegal use of Social Security number charges.
Whittaker admitted to filing numerous false applications using false names and Social Security numbers to get disaster unemployment assistance from the Louisiana Department of Labor. The money was intended for victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
A grand jury indictment alleged Whittaker sought benefits for 49 imaginary people with the last name Ramirez or Garcia — all of them with the same birth date and fake Social Security numbers that varied by one or two digits.
When U.S. Postal Service authorities confronted Whittaker in November while he was retrieving a stack of debit cards mailed to his post office box, he told them he was “picking up the cards for his wife’s relatives, all of whom he claimed were living at his residence in Villa Rica, Georgia,” the indictment alleged.
Had Whittaker not been caught, authorities estimate he would have gotten $127,500 in benefits for which he was not eligible.
At Thursday’s hearing, Whittaker apologized to Tyson for “breaking the law.”
“I’d never met anyone from Louisiana but over the past 16 months I’ve met many people who lost family, their homes and their belongings in the hurricane,” Whittaker said. “I certainly deserve any sentence I get.”
“I believe you,” Tyson said of Whittaker’s apology. “But you certainly went out of your way to put your hands on money that was intended for people who suffered a loss.”
The judge noted that Whittaker has a degree in computer science but also has been arrested 15 times for burglary, theft, drug possession, battery and aggravated assault. He has been convicted just once.
Tyson told Whittaker his educated demeanor “does not fit with your record.”
“You’re obviously intelligent and you’re articulate,” Tyson said. “But for some reason, you did not choose to use those skills for lawful activities.”
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