AUBURN, Maine — Serving jail time for a drunken-driving arrest or sitting in a cell awaiting trial for drug-dealing, robbery or murder ought to prevent you from receiving unemployment benefits.
That was what Androscoggin County Sheriff Guy Desjardins figured when he saw a newspaper story about a Georgetown man, Joshua Harwood, who was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and more than $9,200 in restitution for fraud. Harwood collected the money — unemployment benefits — while he was incarcerated, according to the Maine Department of Labor.
Desjardins read the story and wondered if any Androscoggin County Jail inmates might be collecting benefits, banned for inmates because eligibility comes only with availability for work.
“If it’s one or two percent, you’re looking at a couple of grand a week,” said Desjardins, whose jail population has been surging past 150 most days.
On Friday, his office sent the names, birthdays and Social Security numbers of every inmate to the Department of Labor. He plans to continue the reporting every week.
“I thought of that and said, ‘I can’t believe we’re not doing it,’” said Desjardins, who was unsure whether he would help the state catch any cases of fraud.
“I’m plugging a hole,” he said.
And it’s a hole that’s been around a while.
In fact, the Maine Department of Labor’s Bureau of Unemployment Compensation has been working for about seven years to get numbers from all 15 county jails via “informal arrangements,” department spokeswoman Julie Rabinowitz said.
For the full story, visit the Sun Journal at http://bit.ly/1qFuSTy.