Convicted Murderer Led $2 Million Pandemic-Related Unemployment Scheme In California, Prosecutors Say

A convicted murderer serving life in prison was named as the ring leader of a multi-million dollar California unemployment scheme Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

Natalie Le DeMola, 37, along with 12 others were charged for their connection to the scheme that authorities estimate procured them around $2 million, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

“A 39-count indictment charges DeMola, [Carleisha Neosha] Plummer and 11 others with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, prosecutors said,” according to the Times. “The conspiracy count alleges 150 overt acts, including illegally obtaining personal identifying information, some of which prosecutors allege was provided by an unnamed state prison employee.”

Authorities said the unemployment scheme used stolen identities, including some from state prisoners, to receive benefits from the state. Most of the unemployment benefits were allegedly connected to pandemic relief, the Times noted. 

According to the indictment, those involved in the benefits scheme “would acquire [information], such as the names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers, of individuals, including identity theft victims, who were not eligible for [unemployment insurance] benefits, including pandemic benefits, because they were employed, retired, or incarcerated.”

Prosecutors allege that the conspirators would then apply for unemployment benefits and withdraw money from ATMs in Southern California. 

Five of the other accused conspirators were arrested Tuesday, and six others either remain at large or are out of state. 

Each conspiracy and bank fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison and aggravated identity theft results in a two-year sentence. 

DeMola was sentenced to life in prison after plotting to kill her mother in 2001. She was 16 at the time, and they reportedly got into frequent arguments about DeMola’s relationship with her 17-year-old boyfriend, Terry Lee Bell. 

Bell and his friend, Christopher Long, reportedly joked about “torturing” the mother after one altercation. DeMola and Bell then began discussing her mother through email conversations. 

Weeks later, DeMola, along with Bell and Long, beat her mother to death in her home.

“Police found DeMola’s mother unconscious on the floor at home in a pool of blood. Her ribs, nose, jaw and skull were broken,” the Times reported. 

Long was sentenced to 25 years to life on a first-degree murder charge. Bell and DeMola received life sentences without parole for first-degree murder with lying-in-wait and torture-murder special circumstances. 

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