The mastermind leading seven people to submit more than 400 false California Employment Development Department claims, collecting millions for luxury vehicles and jewelry, carried out his plan while locked up in Tehachapi's California Correctional Institution by tracking everything on hard-copy ledgers, according to federal prosecutors.
Telvin Breaux, 31, pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of aggravated identity theft and a single count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The EDD could have distributed nearly $25 million of taxpayer's money if each of the 400 claims were approved, a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District said, but only $5.4 million was handed out of which some wasn't distributed to the defendants.
"Breaux collected the identities used for the fraudulent claims, managed the submission of the claims and controlled the distribution of the proceeds," according to his plea agreement.
Bakersfield defense attorney Alekxia Torres Stallings, representing Breaux, wrote in an email her office negotiated a reasonable disposition. But there still remains work to do — she plans to highlight his mitigating factors at the sentencing hearing.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 18.
Torres Stallings added Breaux's case was legally complex with thousands of pages detailing prosecutors' evidence.
Breaux and the co-defendants obtained personal identifying information for inmates, civilians and their own children, a news release said. It added the...
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