Sioux City, Iowa — A Le Mars man who stole government funds using a COVID-19 unemployment scheme has been sentenced to 3 months in federal prison.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office in Sioux City, 55-year-old Dennis George Chinn of Le Mars received the prison term after he pleaded guilty this past fall to the theft of government funds.
The US Attorney’s office says that in a plea agreement, Chinn admitted to falsely reporting his income, stating it was $150 per week, so he could get an additional $600 weekly payment, and to fraudulently obtaining unemployment benefits related to COVID-19 relief funds to which he was not entitled. In total, the US Attorney’s Office says Chinn obtained over $13,000 in COVID-19 pandemic CARES Act Iowa unemployment funds.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, Chinn was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Chinn was sentenced to 3 months in prison. He was ordered to pay over $12,230 in restitution. He must also serve a 2-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
