LAKEPORT, Calif. – A woman who formerly worked for the county and her boyfriend have pleaded guilty in what a local prosecutor said is the biggest welfare fraud case she’s ever seen.
April Melissa Wilson, 40, a former county social worker and correctional staffer, and her boyfriend, 36-year-old Brian Noel Jones, both of Hidden Valley Lake, entered guilty pleas in the case, which involved receipt of more than $90,000 in public assistance from a combination of programs – In-Home Supportive Services, North Coast Opportunities, CalWorks and CalFresh, according to Deputy District Attorney Rachel Abelson.
Wilson and Jones were arrested last year, as Lake County News has reported.
Abelson said that on June 20 Wilson pleaded guilty to a felony count of filing a fraudulent or false health claim for In-Home Supportive Services assistance for her son. She also pleaded to felony perjury.
On the same date, Jones also pleaded guilty to filing a fraudulent or false health claim for IHSS, as well as a felony count of grand theft, Abelson said.
Abelson said both Wilson and Jones were sentenced that day to five years’ probation and 180 days in jail.
“They are both due to turn themselves in the end of this month,” Abelson said regarding their jail terms.
Wilson also has been ordered to repay $34,207.26 to IHSS and $27,796.38 to NCO for funds received from its Rural Communities Child Care program. To the Lake County Department of Social Services she must repay $3,033 for CalWorks and $30,147 for CalFresh proceeds she received, Abelson said.
The fraud occurred over the course of several years – from January 2011 and continuing through November 2015, according to the case records.
Lake County Human Resources previously confirmed to Lake County News that Wilson was an office assistant in Social Services from October of 2012 to April of 2013, and worked as a correctional aide for the Lake County Sheriff's Office from June 2014 to April 2015. From April to May 2015 she worked as a correctional officer before going back to the aide position and leaving 10 days later, at the end of May.
Abelson said the case began with Wilson not reporting child support her ex-husband was paying her directly for their four children.
Wilson also was receiving IHSS for one of her children, creating a false medical issue to justify it. Abelson said Wilson was the only person who witnessed her son’s alleged health problems, and when the boy went to a science camp for a week, it was noticed that he didn’t display any symptoms.
Jones was providing the child care for Wilson’s son and also helped her by filling out forms, Abelson said.
Lake County Probation – which is contracted with the Lake County Department of Social Services to conduct welfare fraud investigation services for programs including In-Home Supportive Services – arrested both Wilson and Jones on March 1, 2016, according to the original booking sheets.
Abelson, who handles fraud cases for the Lake County District Attorney’s Office, said it’s the biggest – and most bizarre – welfare fraud case she’s ever seen.
“I have never seen somebody commit so many different types of fraud,” Abelson said.
Abelson said Lake County Probation will handle setting up the restitution payment requirements as part of Wilson’s probation terms.
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Former county employee and boyfriend sentenced for welfare fraud; more than $90,000 taken
- Elizabeth Larson
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