(Radio Iowa) – A Rockford woman will spend 15 months in federal prison for a scheme that netted her unemployment benefits from several states. The U-S Attorney’s office says 53-year-old Stephanie Mendenhall used the names of other people to collect COVID-19 unemployment benefits from Maine, Michigan, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Kansas, and Illinois. She pleaded guilty to four counts of theft of government funds and one count of money laundering conspiracy.

Mendenhall admitted to laundering a majority of the money by purchasing cryptocurrency and sending it to a co-conspirator. She was also ordered to pay back 46 thousand dollars in benefits to the states.