Two Johnson County men will have to repay thousands of dollars in unemployment benefits that investigators said they wrongfully collected.
Jeffery A. Smock, 45, of Franklin, was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to repay $31,809. Kevin Wright, 44, of Greenwood, was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to repay $18,754, according to a news release from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
Smock and Wright were two of eight people recently sentenced as a result of investigations by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development unemployment insurance fraud investigation task force, the release said. Both men pleaded guilty to one count of welfare fraud, according to court documents.
On Nov. 8, 2009, Wright filed for unemployment benefits, claiming he had been laid off from work, but was still employed at the time, a probable cause affidavit said.
Between then and May 13, 2012, Wright filed for unemployment five times while he was still employed and collected $18,754 in unemployment benefits. During the periods where he claimed to be unemployed, Wright earned about $29,000 from working several jobs, the affidavit said.
The state found out about the fraud by inspecting payroll records and comparing them to the list of people receiving unemployment benefits, the affidavit said.
