By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A St. Joseph woman has pleaded guilty in federal court to using the stolen identities of prison inmates to claim COVID-19 relief funds.
Thirty-eight-year-old Brooke Stewart pleaded guilty to one count of stealing government property. She stole more than 139-thousand dollars in COVID-19 aid benefits. Stewart will serve up to 10 years in federal prison without parole.
Stewart facilitated the filing of false claims for unemployment benefits by using the stolen identity of five people who are in state or federal prison and therefore ineligible to receive enhanced unemployment benefits.
Among the people whose stolen identity was used to obtain the benefits was Garland Nelson, who's serving a 32-year federal prison sentence for a cattle fraud scheme that led to two murders in Braymer, Missouri.
Garland is also serving two life sentences in a separate case for the murders.