Charlotte Man Is Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison For COVID-19 Fraud, Drug Distribution, And Illegal Firearms Possession

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Donte O’Neill Clements, 35, of Charlotte, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $993,081 in victim restitution for participating in a COVID-19 fraud scheme, drug distribution, and illegal gun possession, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Jason Byrnes, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Charlotte Field Office, Ronnie Martinez, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in North Carolina and South Carolina, and Chief Johnny Jennings of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) join U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.

According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, from June 2020 to September 2021, Clements conspired with Kaila Leaann Shanteau-Jackson to defraud the U.S. Department of Labor and the State of Arizona, by fraudulently receiving and cashing COVID-19 unemployment insurance (UI) payments diverted to Clements by Jackson. During the relevant time period, Jackson was employed as a vendor-contractor and held the position of Pre-Paid Claims Initiation Agent for a financial institution that serviced the UI benefit program in Arizona. As part of her employment, Jackson had access to the financial institution’s Pre-Paid Administration System (PAS) and was responsible for mailing UI benefits to qualified recipients in the form of pre-paid debit cards.

According to court documents, Jackson used her employment credentials to divert and re-route UI benefits payments intended for 138 victims to Clements, herself, and others. To effectuate the scheme, Jackson changed in the PAS database the rightful recipients’ address information to addresses in Charlotte to which Clements and others had access. Once Clements and others received the re-routed pre-paid debit cards, they either withdrew the benefits in cash from ATMs or conducted retail purchases with the stolen funds. During the scheme, Clements and Jackson diverted approximately $993,000 in UI benefits to themselves.

In August 2022, Clements pleaded guilty to wire fraud for the COVID-19 fraud scheme. In addition, Clements pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, stemming from criminal charges brought against him under a separate indictment filed in the Western District of North Carolina.

Clements remains in federal custody. He will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.

In July 2022, Jackson pleaded guilty to wire fraud for her role in the COVID-19 scheme and is awaiting sentencing.

The U.S. Secret Service, HSI, and CMPD investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Warren of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is in charge of the prosecution.  

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.