SANTA ANA, California – A downtown Los Angeles man pleaded guilty today to federal drug trafficking and fraud charges, admitting, among other things, that he fraudulently obtained nearly $5.5 million in COVID-related jobless benefits by using the identities of California state prison inmates and other third parties.

Edward Kim, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, one count of distribution of methamphetamine, one count of conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims, two counts of mail fraud, and two counts of possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices.

Kim has been in federal custody since his arrest in this case in March 2021.

According to his plea agreement, from May 2020 to March 2021, Kim and his co-conspirators submitted approximately 459 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims to the California Employment Development Department (EDD), using the names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth and other personal identifiable information of California state prison inmates and other people. Kim received the inmates’ information from various sources, including by purchasing PII from the dark web.

Kim and his accomplices submitted to the EDD online applications for UI benefits that falsely represented the inmates and others were unemployed because of the economic crisis brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Kim knowingly listed on the applications false mailing addresses, including his current and...

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