WOODLAND, Calif. — Yolo County District Attorney announced it charged an inmate and his girlfriend with crimes related to defrauding the California Employment Development Department [EDD] of $11,688 in unemployment benefits.
According to a press release from the district attorney's office, Taylor Lewis Gholar, 29, was sentenced on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020, to three years after being convicted for a sex crime involving a minor. According to the district attorney's press release, Gholar was serving his sentence in the Yolo County Jail.
Following Gholar's conviction, investigators with the Yolo County District Attorney's office were alerted that Gholar was fraudulently receiving unemployment insurance benefits while in custody. The investigators intercepted phone calls from the Yolo County Jail between Gholar and his girlfriend, Sonia Chan, discussing filing claims for unemployment insurance benefits.
To be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits, the applicant must be physically able to work, available to work and accept work. The DA's office argued that he was not legally eligible for benefits because Gholar was in jail.
The Yolo County DA alleged in the county's complaint that Chan submitted an application for Gholar and received debit cards on his behalf for a total of $11,688.
Both Gholar and Chan have been charged with felony violations of grand theft, making a false and fraudulent insurance claim, and conspiracy to commit fraud.
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