Ex-employee of Calif. employment department sentenced to prison for $30K fraud

A former employee of the state's Employment Development Department was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for stealing more than $30,000 through bogus unemployment benefit checks.

Martin Bautista, 40, of Compton, was sentenced by U.S. Circuit Judge Richard A. Paez, sitting by designation in Los Angeles federal court, according to Thom Mrozek of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In addition to the prison term, Paez ordered Bautista to pay $30,150 in restitution to the Employment Development Department.

Bautista's co-defendant, Francisco Gomez, 35, formerly of Riverside and now of Glendale, Ariz., was also sentenced today to 30 months in federal prison, Mrozek said.

When he pleaded guilty earlier this year in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles to charges of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, Bautista admitted he took over the unemployment insurance accounts of multiple victims while employed at the Employment Development Department's Riverside office, Mrozek said.

As part of the scheme, Bautista caused the state to issue more than $30,000 in checks for unemployment beneficiaries whose names were similar to Bautista's and Gomez's, Mrozek said.